"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
I have a lot of moss in my 'lawn'. It gets worse every time I scarify
it! Clearly there's an underlying problem such as compacted soil that
I need to address in the fullness of time (I have aquired a
hollow-tine aerator for the purpose). In the interim, I'm thinking of
lawn sand to kill the moss. Prof. Alan Gemmell (sp?) of GQT fame many
years ago, had a recipe for lawn sand involving ferrous sulphate. Can
anyone remember the recipe? Is it worth making my own, or is
commercial stuff with modern chemicals more effective these days?


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net


Don't bother with the sand at this stage. Just dissolve ferrous sulphate in
warmish water, and then spread over affected areas with a watering can. Moss
will be over-fertilised, die and turn black. But it is only a short term
remedy. Three months later, you will have at least as much moss as you have
now, and it will keep returning until you make major improvements to the
drainage (or dig everything up and make a new lawn). After using the tine
aerator, filling the holes with coarse horticultural sand will help to
improve drainage.

Bevan