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<channel><generator>iloblog 1.0</generator><title>moss Feed</title><link>http://lawnblog.thinwallet.co.uk/</link><description>&lt;p&gt;The most common thing i hear when speaking to people about their lawn is.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&quot;&lt;strong&gt;my lawns nothing but moss&lt;/strong&gt;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So time to take a look at this matter in more detail&lt;/p&gt;</description><item><title>Manage your lawn</title><link>http://iloapp.thinwallet.co.uk/blog/lawnblog?Home&amp;post=1</link><description><![CDATA[  Your online stop for all your garden plants:  GardeningExpress .co.uk  Plants Guaranteed 
  Manage your lawn to promote the finer grasses and discourage moss.     Previously we looked at eradicating moss with the use of Sulphate of Iron and removal by scarification, now lets look at some of the reasons why it is in your lawn and how to implement some management techniques to discourage it. There are many reasons why moss is an invader of lawns although it never kills grass itself but out competes it where conditions that favour its growth over grass are predominant.   :  It may seem that it is just there over the winter/early spring period as during this time the grass is not growing a lot if any at all so there is less competition and moss comes to the fore but with the start of growth in mid spring and an early application of fertilizer the grass grows through and the moss is less noticeable.  Yes! only less noticeable  it's still there but now hidden from view. You may have used a nitrogen based fertiliser which contained iron most commonly 2-2.5% FE, which will have had only a small impact on the moss. Seperate the moss control from your normal fertilizer regime and see it as a different operation.  You can boil potatoes and vegetables in the same pot but they dont taste as good.    :  Below surface soil condition are poor, compacted wet soil,poor soil with a large clay/silt content or to rich like a black loam which is ideal for borders or planting vegetables but to rich if your looking to keep a fine firm lawn. Not everybody has a free fine draining 80/20 sandy/sandy loam topsoil, but undertaking a programme of aeration (scarifying,spiking,coring) will promote a free and well aerated rootzone which will encourage a stronger deeper healthier rooting grasscover.  Its an old saying if you stir the soil with a stick it comes alive.    :  Scalping by cutting to close or because of an uneven surface. Raise your height of cut in mid to late autumn and only lower when there is good growth from early May onwards. Lawns can suffer from a lack of density of grass and as moss prevails where the grass cover is very thin to discourage it carry out overseeding where required to increase the thickness of the sward, a must if you are looking to promote a fine closely mown lawn.   :  Shaded areas are very susceptible to moss, a lack of sunlight, poor air circulation and cooler temperature are all factors in this and these areas do require an increase in aeration to improve air/water movement into the rootzone.   :  Plan a well balanced fertilizer programme using a slow release low nitogen based product which will result in slow growth over a period of time. Try to move away from the Feed and Weed 4 times a year that you continually hear of.  It encourages to much lush growth  and with it comes an extra build up of unpicked up cuttings which causes a build of thatch at the surface leading to soft surface,  mower scalping and an ingress again of more moss. 
  If your mainly looking at discouraging moss without undertaking too much added time, and a finer firmer lawn is not what your looking for but are more concerned with controlling moss.  A basic programme would involve applying Sulphate of Iron by Lawn sand or spayer in mid/late March following up by scarifying 7 days later and overseeding any thin areas. Raise the height of cut from the previous year and keep cutting at this height apart from times of strong growth.  Scarify again in late August- early September before growth slows down to much and overseed any weak areas before raising the height of cut again in late September.  Apply Sulphate of Iron(ferrous sulphate) in Late October/ early November. 
 We will be continuing this series with more indepth articles in future posts, if you would like to read more just add us to your favourites. 
 ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 03 Apr 2011 20:17:13 +0100</pubDate><category>Manage your lawn</category></item><item><title>Lawncare</title><link>http://iloapp.thinwallet.co.uk/blog/lawnblog?Home&amp;post=0</link><description><![CDATA[  A fairly common seen at the moment, with grass growth being dormant over  the winter period moss tends to prevail and we are left with a rather unsightly lawn.  It actually looks worse than it is as we can speed up the mosses departure with an  application of Iron( ferrous sulphate) which destroys it by burning it. 
 Use a powdered Sulphate of Iron which is soluble in water such as  Westland Sulphate of Iron 1.5kg  and mix with cold water before adding to a sprayer or watering can and apply at  6-7 grammes per m2.  
  Tip: to ensure a good coverage apply at half rate and go over the lawn twice   
  Picture after an application of iron where the moss has blackened (and ready to be scarified out) and the grass cover has turned a deeper green colour. 
 Or you can apply a Lawn sand which is a sand and Iron mix where the sand is used as a carrier to allow for easier spreading. Bagged lawn sand is available through your local garden centre. 
 To apply evenly it is best done by using a spreader. Scotts provide a good range of  quality spreaders like the  Scotts EvenGreen Drop Spreader  or the  EverGreen Easy Spreader Plus  both very handy tools for the lawn as they can be used for spreading fertilisers and grass seed as well as lawn sand.  Powders which come in containers with a spreading rose built in and liquids which can be applied by sprayer or for a very small area by watering can. 
  Tip:If you want to keep a deep green colour to your lawn without the extra cutting required after using a nitrogen based fertilizer. Use liquid iron once every 4-6 weeks (except during long dry spells). Again to ensure a good coverage apply at half rate and go over the area twice.  
 After an application of Iron moss blackens and then can be removed by scarification  either by hand using a springbok rake. Use a spung steel toothed rake with a solid wooden handle like the  Draper Expert  a good quality rake which will last. Dont be afraid to use the rake quite vigorously to scarify the build up of moss and dead grass, pick up all the material you have removed as its this build up of  decaying material that gives a very spongy poor surface to your lawn. If your lawn is larger than 50 square metres look at at one of the pedestrian scarifiers with a good size collection box and adjustable height setting, such as the  Flymo 750 Watt Lawnraker Compact 3400  which has a 34 litre collection capacity and  6 different height settings between-5mm and +8mm.  The height required will depend on the condition of the lawn. A really firm lawn will manage the lower settings while a very soft lawn the higher ones. Try out at a higher setting first and then judge if you can reduce the machine lower.  Tip: little and often is the best policy for your lawn, scarify twice lightly rather than once deeply.   
 Depending on how long its been since your lawn had a good scarify you might be  surprised by the amount of debris that will have built up over that time. This picture  shows the amount of dead material that can be removed. Only 10 metres squared was scarified but there was enough decayed material  removed to fill a normal sized wheelbarrow.  
 Carry out the scarifying during a dry day as this will ensure better collection of all the material removed. Once done you should see an instant improvement in the firmness of the lawn. One of the attributes to a fine lawn which we will cover in some more detail in upcoming articles. 
 ]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:13:05 +0000</pubDate><category>Moss</category></item></channel>
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