As Sunflower said , It sounds like you realy should not even try to grow grass . Maples and other trees have shallow roots that kill most anything . Plant a rock and shade garden you cant win if the area doesn`t like grass. Oh you can get it to grow, for a while, but next year it will be the same , not worth a loosing battle.
The whole side of my house lawn is overtaken with moss. It had never had any real decent grass and last year it was mostly weeds and moss. This Spring it looks like 99 % moss. Last year I tried putting lime down and either I didn't use enough or it did not soak into the earth.
The ground is fairly hard so maybe it needs to be aerated first. There are a fair amount of trees present and some of the roots are showing through. How do I get rid of moss and replace with grass?
I don't want to do sod as that would be too expensive. I'd still have to treat the underlaying ground though.
Is the best approach to till the entire area and plant seed? Do I rid the ground of moss first?
I'm soooo confused. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks, Walter
If you want to get rid of moss, use lime. That's *real* lime, not the powdered limeSTONE (i.e., ground up seashells) that you find in most garden centers. Try a tile supply place. "Hydrated" lime is OK, but is chemically list active than the traditional "anhydrous" type. The latter is probably only available from a chemical supply place. Real lime was used in outhouses and by crooks to get rid of the bodies!
Hydrated lime seems to work OK on moss. It takes a full year. More sunlight helps. Add grass seed and fertilizer.
Get rid of the trees or learn to love your moss garden and elminate the remaining grass. Or plant a shade loving ground cover. Grass needs full sun to thrive.
Our local lawn expert recommends killing moss by fertilizing with potassium (0-0-60). I buy the high potassium fertilizer (0 - 0 - 60), make a saturated solution, then spray it on the moss with a hand sprayer.
Does a fine job of killing it within a few days.
Making grass grow is a different story. You need some sun, and the tree roots will eventually kill most grasses. Look for a "shady mix" type seed and try to cut the tree roots somehow ("root prune"). You may have to re-seed every spring.
Regards Old Al
Plant a moss garden. Some are really gorgeous.
Like Rosie said, dont fight nature plant what the area likes. Grass will be a yearly continual major expense of seed and more seed. A garden is less maintenance and nicer if done right. Moss varities are sold and used by many, why kill what you have or what grows maintenance free. I learned the hard way killing moss and going grass, now ive gone back to Hostas since the grass never lasted and always was thin even with the best Scotts shade seed. Now I wish I didn`t use Round up on the moss. Get a shade garden book and go to your local nursery .
why not quit fighting it and work with what you have? plant hosta in a circle around each tree and carpet the rest in pachysandra. no more work and no more grief! rosie
Moss grows in a lawn because the environmental conditions in that area favor it - - and do not favor grass. What does moss like? Shade, clay soil and lots of moisture. What does grass hate? Shade, clay soil and lots of moisture! If you eliminate the three environmental conditions that moss favors, the moss will disappear. When you next re-seed, add plenty of soil conditioner to the ground before rototilling it. Remove lower tree limbs that cause shade. Redirect water that flows across the fescue lawn. If you can accomplish that, the moss will be no obstacle for your grass.
Products that contain ferrous sulfate or copper sulfate kill moss for a short time. Although moss prefers acid soil rather than alkaline soil, liming a lawn has little to do with moss control. If you change the environment, moss will leave.
It's hard to give advice on situations like this when so little is known. Grass can grow nicely in partial shade, but you need to use varieties like creeping fescue that are suited to shade. There are some excellent shade mixes available. However, it all depends on how much shade and the climate. For example, an area that is on the north side of a house that gets zero direct sunlight is virtually impossible to grow grass in. Areas that get some filtered light for at least part of the day can support shade tolerant grass.
The tree surface roots are a major problem. Some species, eg maple varieties, are known for having surface roots. These suck up the moisture and nutrients and make it virtually impossible to grow grass. You also can't use a tiller or aerator on these areas. If you're gonna try to grow grass in shade, make sure you thin out the trees with surface roots first. You can also thin out the tops of some of the existing trees to get more light in.
As for killing the moss, if you're gonna seed anyway, I'd use roundup to kill the moss/weeds, then go from there. But the bigger problem is figuring out what the area really can support, getting the proper soil, adjusting the PH, etc. Getting some professional advice may be the best route.
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