moss growing on soil

MargeSimpson · Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:24 pm Post subject: moss growing on soil

Just wondering what causes moss to grow on the soil of flower beds. The beds are south facing so get alot of sun.
I find the moss is difficult to remove even though I weed regularly.

crosseyedsheep · Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2006 9:35 am Post subject:

Sulphate of Iron is normally used to remove moss from lawns, perhaps it could be used for flower beds as well, It lowers the PH of the soil though so it may or may not be suitable depending on what you've planted. Worth looking into:

http://www.gardenhealth.com/product_range/straights/iron.php

Edit: Removed full stop at the end of the link which was buggering it up, thanks Verge.

verge

How does that saying go...." Nature hates a vacuum". Mother nature cant stand clean bare soil. Just go to any site that has been deralict for a year or two, there will be no bare soil, it will be all colonised by one form of plant life or another.
Marge, you are removing the weeds so that space is being filled with moss. If you mulched the bed with bark or gravel, this would allow you to give the surface a tickle with a rake every so often. This will prevent the moss settling, of course this will probably work on soil as well.
Also digging your affected flower beds to a depth of a garden fork and incorparating sharp grit will be of benefit. Allowing better drainage discourages moss.

MargeSimpson

GarethAustin · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 3:33 pm Post subject: Moss on soil

Hi there.

An Application of Armillatox fungicide will sort this moss problem out. In my experience I have foudn that areas treated with a Simazine based weedkiller suffer terribly from moss.

See more about Armillatox on www.armillatox.co.uk

mdvaden · Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 5:38 pm Post subject:

I changed my thinking about moss when I went to college for landscape and design. At that time, I moved back to my mother's 2 acre property, where I designed the upper acre.

Where the lawn met the beds - with tall trees too - I just allowed the moss to fill in where the grass was sparse in the fall and winter.

Previously, the reason I didn't like moss, was from experience working at golf courses and the weed control classes in college.

Sb · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:58 pm Post subject: Re: moss growing on soil