Moss has a reputation for being a stubborn intruder on garden lawns, often overshadowing it with its uneven and spongy presence.
This uninvited guest can lead to dying grass and unsightly bare patches over the warmer months.
However, before you reach for harsh chemical moss treatments, the Lawn Association’s experts have recommended a more sympathetic method – scarifying.
They claim that this solution not only rejuvenates your lawn but encourages more robust growth.
It’s a technique that even gets a nod of approval from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), which advises that scarifying is most effective in autumn when the grass can recover swiftly under mild, damp conditions.
Scarifying also stops further moss infestation by removing the stifling thatch layer—a build-up of organic brown matter beneath the grass that retains water and nutrient delivery to the roots.
This lawn care process equally promotes better aeration, allowing both air and water to circulate freely within the soil strata. The Lawn Association experts explained: “When it comes to scarification, you are effectively pruning your lawn.
“Through this procedure, you are not trying to dominate nature, but instead, giving it a helping hand to work at its best by controlling the thatch, which in turn will probably mean you never have moss.”
The Lawn Association explained: “By regularly aerating your lawn, you allow rainwater to run down into the soil and away from the surface, giving the moss spores less chance to germinate.”
For greener and thicker grass, start by trimming it shorter before lifting the pesky moss with a spring-tined rake or power up a mechanical scarifier.
Crisp lines back and forth across the lawn should reveal the bald spots where seeds must be sown.
Enhance resilience by applying a hearty autumn lawn feed, the kind packed with potassium and phosphorus, which is spot on for fostering robust roots.
Post-feed, add those seeds over any bare patches, sealing the deal for a lawn comeback.
Gardening gurus agree that a good raking before winter can yield a lavish, drought-resistant patch.
