Lawn Care Help (1st time homeowner)

[UncleDan]

Hey guys,

So I bought my first house last February and I'm sorta a newby with lawncare. My lawn has a big moss problem caused by shade, moist soil and probably a bad soil PH too. I have approximately 12,000 square feet of yard and I'd say 50% of that is moss infested. It's a real pain and I want to get rid of this stuff for good and grow a good lawn.

I realize the shade and moisture I have in the yard will have me constantly combating moss growth. My question is, do you have to remove all the moss completely, or are there treatments that will do this?

I am going to be using a dethatching machine this weekend and the hope is that it rips up most or all the moss. Then I can rake everything up and put down a good amount of lime for the soil. Then in maybe another 3-4 weeks I want to aerate the entire lawn, then put down seed, starter fertilizer and an organic fertilized.

For you guys with the experience, please let me know if this is a good start, and what else I need to keep doing in order to keep the moss out. Thanks!

 

[BLOWN PONY]

I'm no expert, but I'd say if you can't get rid of the shade, you are probably going to have trouble growing grass in those areas.

I know there are some types of grass that do better then others in shady areas, but I'd make sure they grow well in your climate as well.

Good luck, I'm currently trying to fix the yard for my first home as well!

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

is the shade caused by trees? if so thinning them out and raising the canopy may help depending on whats there

 

[03cobra#694]

See if anything in here helps.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...-Lawn-care-seeding-fertilizing&highlight=lawn

 

[UncleDan]

is the shade caused by trees? if so thinning them out and raising the canopy may help depending on whats there

Yes, but the trees are effin' massive, especially the one in the middle of the back yard. But that thing is old and should probably come down soon.

See if anything in here helps.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...-Lawn-care-seeding-fertilizing&highlight=lawn

I don't see much about moss but there is some great reading about lawn care in general in there.

 

[Weather Man]

This is where testing and talking to a local lawn care expert can save you money and frustration down the road. Don't put lime down til you have it tested and come up with a plan of attack. Plenty of grass varieties that grow just fine in shade.

 

[01GTB]

You might want to go over to lawnsite. Down near the bottom of the list of sub-forums is a homeowner section.

 

[1o1proof]

If you have a CO-OP or something like that in your area, go there and get a soil testing kit. Follow directions and turn it back into them. They will tell you what the soil needs and how much of it to put down.

That said...if you have a lot of trees and shade, which it sounds like you do, it is going to be tough getting grass established. It can be done, just requires more work than an open yard. If you do not have grass in the moss covered areas, dethatching, aerating, fertilizing etc will not help you. Grass can grow from established areas into the trouble spots, but will take a lot of time. Kill whats there, losen up the soil, add what the test results say and replant. This fall you can just do the spots that are causing problems and should see some nice looking grass next spring.

Disclaimer: I am no lawn care expert nor do I claim to be...so if this info sucks don't blame me! Just telling you what I have had to do in the past. :beer:

 

[MovingZen]

Check this out -

http://landscaping.about.com/od/grassgrowingtips/a/get-rid-of-moss.htm

You may need a combination, improve drainage, adjust the soil ph, limb up the trees or take some out, and switch to a shade tolerant grass like fine fescue.

 

[Yulla]

If you want a nice looking lawn and more than 50% of your current lawn is covered in some kind of weed, I would just renovate the whole yard. I did it myself with good results and lots reading on lawncare forums (bestlawn)

They do sell chemicals for moss like Mossout though, if you want to go that route and just try to remove the moss. But it's really satisfying growing a lawn from scratch, plus you can pick your own modern strains of grass for your specific area that will look amazing.