"Terry" wrote in message
...
a wrote:

Hmmm, not sure what is under the lawn itself. We have a lot of clay in
our
soil, but I dont know about under the lawn - it tends to get very
'crisp' in
a dry summer.

It could be though that you have sandy soil on a gravel subbase
these kind of areas are like a bog in the winter due to rising water
levels
but parched in the summer because its hard to keep adequate levels of
humous
in the soil


"a" wrote in message
...
Our back garden is riddled with moss at the moment - it is like
walking
on a
sponge! Is it worth persevering with moss killer and raking it
all
out
(which wont leave much grass behind) or is it really a re-lay job
(about
50
square metres at a guess)?

Unless you do something about the conditions which are making your
lawn
a nice place for moss to grow then you're really wasting your time
and
effort killing it with chemicals. It will always come back sooner
or
later.

It may not be necessary to re-lay it. You mostly just need to
improve
the drainage. You could try spiking the lawn and brushing grit
into
the
holes for a start. Is it over-shaded - can you give it more light?
Is
your lawn at the bottom of a slope such that water tends to drain
onto
it - perhaps providing a drainage channel for that water is an
option?

If all else fails, moss is quite pleasant to look at and the
sponginess
could be viewed as an asset ;-)


It is not overshaded, and is sloped maybe 10 degrees with a small
patio
at
the top - I wouldnt have thought too much water would drain into the
lawn.
I
think maybe aerating might help though - you can rent electric ones
I
think
from the hire shops? What sort of grit would you put in - where do
you
buy
such stuff?


Any ideas how much a re-lay would cost? I saw a
neighbours lawn get relaid last year, and they just put down
loads of
top
soil over the existing grass and laid the new turf on top - that
seemed
an
odd way to do it?

I can't see how that will have improved the drainage unless they
added
a
significant height.


It just looked a bit odd as their lawn wasnt too bad before, perhaps
a
little bare in a couple of patches. I would guess anything growing
in
the
old lawn would eventually grow through into the new one on top
though.


cheers

dave.





AFIK advice here seems to be; a) Lime if acid soil. b) Proper
drainage. c) Sufficient sunlight, cut back over hanging trees?
Dosing it up with chemicals should surely be an absolute last
resort, if used at all and won't result in a permanent solution
anyway?
Terry.

Isn't it interesting how all these theories come out but no-one asks the
obvious question - how do you mow your lawn?

The commonest and biggest cause of moss is cuttings - i.e. people that use
hover mowers and don't remove (completely or effectively) the debris left
behind. I know, I've been there. My lawn has improved immeasurably since I
bought a rotary mover (i.e. one with wheels) that collects the grass leaving
only a little to rake up (or run over again at a higher setting to 'vac' it
up) afterwards. That and an application of 'Weed-and-Feed' twice a year and
it works wonders. I use one by Baby Bio as it is blue so you can see where
you've been, and a proper 'wheeled bucket' applicator. I also lashed out
some years ago on a Qualcast Lawnraker - best £30 I ever spent.

Go through the above and for a while you lawn will look pretty sick, but
grass is very resilient and will come back much quicker than you expect.


--
Woody