On Sun, 22 Jun 2003 12:01:23 -0500, FireBrick wrote:

Actually two.
I have lots of clover, three leaf kind and NO LUCK getting it out of the
lawn.
Any suggestions as to what will clear up the clover without killing the
grass?


second.
One area has a loss of green moss growing on the soil.
Any suggestions as to what will clear up the moss without killing the
adjacent grass?


The field clover is a bit of a bugger to get rid of due to the way it
propogates. But in general, nitrogen and a low soil ph will keep it at
bay. Also a higher mowing hight (3 inches for most lawns ) will help to
keep the weed seeds from sprouting. Your options are weed & feed or
thatching the lawn. I personally dis-like weed & feed due to it's heavy
metal content and the chemicals that are used to kill off the weeds, but
in the same tone, thatching may not be cost effective for you. I'd suggest
that if your lawn area is small that you thatch it and reseed in the fall.
You could easily do this yourself but it's a lot of hard labor. If you
wish to weed & feed I'd wait untill the end of summer. Spread the weed
killer, wait for 2 to 4 weeks and over seed the lawn.

Moss in lawns is generally due to the lack of soil drainage. You can use
moss-out to kill off the moss and not harm the grass. Moss-out will kill
the moss but if the soil conditions stay the same and the dead moss is not
removed, it will come back again rather quickly. I tend to moss-out the
affected areas, wait 2 weeks, thatch and reseed. If you moss-out first
then thatch the moss comes out much easier.
Aireration will help the drainage issues but in some cases aireration
will not fix the problem completly. You may need to redirect your down
spouts on your gutters or even install a french drain.

What I would tend to do....
Test the soil ph of the lawn. Your looking for a 6 to 6.5 ph for your
soil. Adjust the ph if need be.
Thatch and reseed the affected areas in the fall.
Change the cultral practices that are used on the lawn. Raise the mower
hight to 2 3/4 to 3 inches. Start a regular fertilization program for the
lawn. 2 to 4 pounds pure nitrogen per 1000 square feet in 2 to 3 separte
applications. Aireate the compacted and slow draining areas of the lawn
once a year.

Good luck with the moss and clover.

--
http://yard-works.netfirms.com
Bellingham, Washington
Georgia straits area
Zone 8a usda