Moss Removal & Prevention

Moss is familiar to probably everyone living in the Pacific Northwest. It will crowd out lawn grasses, and it grows best when 3 conditions are met: moist ground, shade and a pH of 6.2.

Any metal will kill moss. For lawn moss, I use ferrous sulfate with 30% iron; on roofs, I use zinc sulfate monohydrate. Killing the moss reduces its size and its grip on the ground and the grass, so I always recommend having me kill it before pulling it out with my thatcher. Here are examples of pulling dead moss.

This lawn has growing bare spots caused by a heavy moss growth. Walking on it is like walking on a foam mattress. This photo was taken after killing the moss.

I've pulled out the dead moss and it's ready for raking and vacuuming.

Now, with the moss gone, you can see the bare spots. The grass that was there is still there, only now it can breathe and be fed back to optimum health.

I came back about 3 weeks later to take this "after" picture, as you can tell by the new growth on the neighbor's trees in the background.