Garden Gravel Stones going green!

[newbiegardener]

In the past few weeks I have noticed that large areas of our gravel - its a landscaped garden area turning green on top (sort of limey colour).

Thought it might be the dog 'wee' but it seems to be in areas that he never goes to.

Has anyone any ideas what might be causing this and if I can doing anything to reverse/stop it?

it has been very wet/damp recently down here in the South West.

thanks

Jeff

[lannerman]

Hi Jeff, Yes, I think you've nearly got the reason, its a combination of wet warm weather and dog wee. I have 2 spaniels and a large natural flag stone patio which due to the same reasons has gone green. I use hypochlorite, which is what dairy farmers use as a sterilising agent, which is more animal friendly than bleach (available from any agricultural merchants) It comes in a

5 gallon drum and costs about £12. Mix this at a rate of 1/4 of a pint to 10 pints of warm water and either apply with a watering can or as I do using a pump up type sprayer and in either case, apply to damp stones and this will kill this algae. (the sprayer will give you much better coverage) Obviously, dont use a sprayer that you use on plants, mine is normally used for weedkiller. Hope this helps.

regards, Lannerman.

[David Hare-Scott]

A photo would help but it's probably algae. There isn't much you can do about it unless you want to spray a lot of chemicals that will have substantial side effects. It will reduce in dry weather and grow in wet.

Instead of trying to eliminate the algae it would be easier to adjust your expectations of what a garden should look like. Gardens are full of bugs, bacteria, fungi, algae, spiders, grubs etc, the list is endless, which superficially are not desired. Some turn out to be beneficial and all have a role in the ecology. You can spend your life trying to beat them (and inevitably fail) or recognise that is how the world is and reach a compromise. The compromise might need to be more in your favour (say) where a horde of birds are about to eat all the fruit that you wanted to eat but it might be more in favour of the natural result in matters that are not so important.

David

PS

South West of what? This is an international newsgroup.

D

[newbiegardener]

Thank you Lannerman - much appreciated - will try this - though how long should you keep your dog off after spraying - is it caustic to the dogs pads do you know?

[songbird]

David Hare-Scott wrote: ...

i'd assume it was moss or algae, if it's spring it could also be pollen.

only in the last case does washing do much good. if algae, it will die back when it gets dry again. if it is moss, leave it alone and enjoy a beautiful mossy garden. well worth leaving alone... if the climate is nice enough you can find bits of other mosses and include them in a patchwork pattern.

moss and algae are in the air so there's no way to get rid of the permanently. chemicals will knock it back for a while, but the poisons or changes to soil chemistry are not worth the use.

songbird

[Brooklyn1]

Algae is a water plant... the OP probably has moss growing. If the green is appearing in the shady areas it is definitely moss. Use of decorative gravel in shade in wet/damp climes is not a very good idea.