New To Gardening

[Messalina]

And in need if help. We have what should be a small lawn but it's mainly moss and dock leaves and something else I haven't yet identified. What can I use to get rid of the moss etc that won't harm the mog and his friend?

[Prudie]

You can get moss killer from garden centres but the usual way is to rake it out - trouble is that leaves you with bare earth. The very common weeds in lawns are plantain, dandelion and daisy. If yours is that bad you might consider digging it over and laying grass seed.

[roslyn251254]

..........or you could returf it

[Prudie]

or if you were my husband you'd want to lay astroturf....

[Messalina]

Not daisys or dandelion. Small pale green leaves. Don't think Smoke the mog would be too thrilled with AstroTurf.

[Prudie]

neither would I :-)

[gingejbee]

"something else I haven't yet identified".....grass?

[Robinia]

Lol @ astroturf.
I wouldn't want to risk chemicals if I had a pet, even though some of them claim to be safe. If it's only a small area and that full of weeds replacing it by seeding or turfing would be the best option.

[Messalina]

Funny, Gingejbee! Even I can spot the grass. What there is of it.

[gingejbee]

...well, you did say you were new to gardening! (Thanks for B/A!)

[webbo3]

Lots of moss is mainly down to poor drainage, use a moss killer and rake the dead moss out, fork the area where the moss was and sprinkle grit down the holes and then reseed the area, you can seed again once you have some growth(its called overseeding and is used by groundsmen), as for the other weeds use a weed killer you can directly spray on to the plant, once its dry it will be harmless to pets and children.




Dave.

[jomifl]

Unless you are planning on weeding your lawn by hand you will eventually have to use a selective weedkiller so you might as well start now. If you use weed killer you will have to keep your cat indoors for a day or so(read the instructions)You don't need to spray the entire lawn, just the weeds that you don't want. I leave clover and violets to do their own thing and from a few yards away they are indistinguishable from grass. After a few applications throughout the year you will have nearly all grass. Moss can be killed of effectively with Ferrous sulphate which is cheap and non toxic to pets.
Grass benefits from plenty of fertilizer which gives it an advantage over many weeds which are adapted to poor soils. A mulching lawn mower will also make life easier as you don't have grass cuttings to get rid of and the lawn benefits from the organic material.

[Messalina]

Thanks to all for the advice. Looks like ferrous sulphate and a lot of work. Off to the garden centre it is.

[jomifl]

I have recently used wood ash from my log fire to control moss with great success. My lawn is almost moss free and the grass is luxurious.