Anyone use Ferrous Sulfate to kill moss?

[bigbearbear]

Yes. 100%.
You can build up better turf or just treat every spring.

That was my issue originally, I was planning to seed that part of the lawn last fall and I used a Sun Joe dethatcher/Scarifier on that portion, exposing bare soil, but I ran out of time. By the time I finished the front yard the cold was already in so I decided to see this spring instead.

My front yard, now seeded with expensive seeds from Seeds Superstore, doesn't have this issue as the turn is nice and thick like a layer of carpet. The backyard is a bit of a mess but I plan to fix it this spring.

Big lawn projects this year.

 

[bigbearbear]

This is true. Moss turns black and stops growing. The iron makes you lawn a beautiful dark green, which is emphasized by the black moss. Without changing the other things that make moss do so well in your lawn you, will have the moss back, just the same, a year from treatment. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Moss treatment is cheap enough to do every year. And a lot of the time easier to do than eliminate what makes your lawn moss friendly.

Thanks, and yeah I plan to seed in those area with moss so they shouldn't grow back. There are some parts of my backyard that was originally covered in mulch but over the years, they've been worn away until only soil is exposed and those areas have a lot of moss too, I'll have to fix it this year as well.

I ended up buying a big of (50 lbs) of Ferrous Sulfate from a local EWing store for only $27.10. This thing is "da bomb", highly economical and I just need to spread the granules with a spreader and the moss are now brown and black in color. Highly recommend for those who deal with moss regularly, instead of buying expensive Moss Out, just grab a big bag of this.

 

[Member 5605]

That was my issue originally, I was planning to seed that part of the lawn last fall and I used a Sun Joe dethatcher/Scarifier on that portion, exposing bare soil, but I ran out of time. By the time I finished the front yard the cold was already in so I decided to see this spring instead.

My front yard, now seeded with expensive seeds from Seeds Superstore, doesn't have this issue as the turn is nice and thick like a layer of carpet. The backyard is a bit of a mess but I plan to fix it this spring.

Big lawn projects this year.

Not sure how your yard is, what it looks like, sunny, shady, drainage etc.

As a horticulturist, arborist and lawn care person, I'd love to hear more of what your unique situation holds. Working for a seed wholesaler helps me understand the usages and gives a better idea of the end use for the 'customer'.

We are getting close to the 50° mark for cool season germination! Gotta love those C3 grasses!

 

[bigbearbear]

Not sure how your yard is, what it looks like, sunny, shady, drainage etc.

As a horticulturist, arborist and lawn care person, I'd love to hear more of what your unique situation holds. Working for a seed wholesaler helps me understand the usages and gives a better idea of the end use for the 'customer'.

We are getting close to the 50° mark for cool season germination! Gotta love those C3 grasses!

My front yard is basically flat with full sun. The soil isn't very level so one project I'm planning to do level things out. I seeded the front yard with perennial ryegrass bought from Seed Super Store (seedsuperstore.com), which is a 3 way mix they called the SS9000. Pretty good success with this even though I'm a complete newbie as far as lawn care goes, never had a lawn until I moved to this house in WA early last year.

My backyard is on a slope, most of it sunny with parts of it shady due to the many trees in the backyard. I have not done much to the backyard besides putting out weed killers and insecticide to keep the bugs down. The backyard was also full of moles and when I moved in, they were having a blast digging mounds of dirt everywhere. I caught 2 of the moles and I believe this feral/stray orange tabby cat and I started feeding murdered the rest as I've not seen any more dirt mounds for a few months.

For the backyard, I bought a 50lb bag of perennial ryegrass seed from Ewing the same time I bought the ferrous sulfate. Their price is very low compared to Seed Super Store and I decided to try them out for the backyard because, well, if their seed sucks I won't be laughed at by neighbors walking by. Actually I opt for the lower cost seeds because the lawn in the backyard is a temporary one, I have plans to build a pool and most of the backyard will be covered with pavers.

I'm not sure if my situation is unique but I think most home owners like to have their front yard look very nice, and their lawn should "dominate" their neighbors (term I picked up from lawn care videos on youtube). So if your company have stocks of premium grass seeds, you'll want to advertise these as such.

Backyard for me is just temporary as mentioned above, so long as the seed doesn't contain weeds, it'll be ok for me. They don't have to look super good, just enough to hold the soil against erosion and pleasant enough to walk on is ok.

 

[Member 5605]

50lb bag of perennial ryegrass seed from Ewing

You have me curious, what Ewing product? They have some blends we make for them to the tune of about a million+ pounds a year.

Look into some Kentucky bluegrass mixes for your backyard, perennial will crave more sun. Perennial looks great and is good for backyard traffic, sometimes the shade we seek fades it out quick from lack of sun.

Yards are fun.

 

[Mikej]

Thanks, and yeah I plan to seed in those area with moss so they shouldn't grow back. There are some parts of my backyard that was originally covered in mulch but over the years, they've been worn away until only soil is exposed and those areas have a lot of moss too, I'll have to fix it this year as well.

I ended up buying a big of (50 lbs) of Ferrous Sulfate from a local EWing store for only $27.10. This thing is "da bomb", highly economical and I just need to spread the granules with a spreader and the moss are now brown and black in color. Highly recommend for those who deal with moss regularly, instead of buying expensive Moss Out, just grab a big bag of this.

I've always use the liquid Moss Out. If you've got walks and driveways along the grass it's seems impossible to not get the pellets here and there on the concrete. Costs more and labor intensive, but easy to do the job and not mess up the walks. Plus, you can see immediately where you hit the moss.

 

[The Heretic]

I've used the moss out pellets once or twice on my roof, but for everywhere else I now prefer vinegar as I can spray it. With dry pellets you have to time it with the rain. With the liquids you just have to spray it when it is going to be dry for a while, and maybe not even then (rain dilutes it, it needs time to work before it rains).

Last year I used Wet & Forget (Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride) on my roof and it didn't seem to work very well. I had better luck with vinegar.

YMMV

 

[Flopsweat]

I've been using Wet & Forget and when I bother to do it, it seems to work fine.

 

[bigbearbear]

You have me curious, what Ewing product? They have some blends we make for them to the tune of about a million+ pounds a year.

Look into some Kentucky bluegrass mixes for your backyard, perennial will crave more sun. Perennial looks great and is good for backyard traffic, sometimes the shade we seek fades it out quick from lack of sun.

Yards are fun.

The bag of seed I bought is labeled as Eagle/Ace Perennial Ryegrass blend. And thanks, I will look into Kentucky bluegrass too.

This is the first time I own a property with my own yard and not having HOA to deal with vegetation, I must say I'm enjoying it. Heck, evening sharpening the lawn mower blades this morning felt kinda fun.

 

[Flopsweat]

The bag of seed I bought is labeled as Eagle/Ace Perennial Ryegrass blend. And thanks, I will look into Kentucky bluegrass too.

This is the first time I own a property with my own yard and not having HOA to deal with vegetation, I must say I'm enjoying it. Heck, evening sharpening the lawn mower blades this morning felt kinda fun.

Yeah, it will for a while.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

FYI the "wet and forget" liquid at costco and amazon works well. This is my first year using it but it killed moss in about 2 weeks.

Also fwiw re what others said about letting the moss grow in the lawn, I heartily agree. I did that on two properties and both lawns have reached a balance of moss plus grass to the point that I don't have to use any soil amendments, fertilizer, etc at all now and mowing is really minimal. More grass than moss grows in the sunny parts and more moss than grass in the shady parts. I wish I had done it years ago instead of trying to kill the moss in the yard, using fertilizer, soil sweet, etc. I still kill moss on roof, walks etc. I let the moss grow on side on concrete m/masonry walls (not stairs themselves) just cuz I like the look kind of old English estate look or whatever.

 

[The Heretic]

Costco has pallets of the iron stuff at the hillsboro store for twenty something dollars a bag

 

[Cavedweller]

Thanks I'll look into doing a soil test.

You don't need a soil test. If you are west of the Cascades you have acid soil. Count on it.

Baking soda works great on driveways and other hard surfaces. Kills moss dead and doesn't stain. Cheap, too. A lot cheaper at Winco than at Fred Meyer.

 

[Member 5605]

Thanks I'll look into doing a soil test.

Not needed.
Little early to add fertilizers or kill the moss.

The more moss you kill now, the more weed seeds will have less competition to grow. They will then out compete your grass seeds.

Not joking when I say you should wait for 50° weather to spread seeds, you can sow now but you increase the chance of birds and insects eating them. Your Birdie/Eagle or whatever mix it was in the blue bag is not a treated seed to keep insects out.

Temps below this your seeds won't germinate. Average day temp needs to be 50° or higher. Average of night low and day high. C3 cool season grasses won't germinate above 75° so you have a large window. You want them established before the 75° days come, water in early morning so damp conditions don't stay over night increasing potential for disease.

There are other professional turf management people on this site as well.

 

[bigbearbear]

A quick update on this.

Interestingly, I have found that the areas that were heavily treated with ferrous sulfate and subsequently seeded with grass seed now have grass that are very deep dark green in color. I have known that iron in some fertilizers, such as Milorganite, turns grass dark green but their effect doesn't last very long. When iron is applied to the soil via ferrous sulfate however, it seems that the effect last quite a long time and helps new grass grow up with dark green color.

I seeded with fairly cheap bulk perennial ryegrass seed I bought at Ewing but in areas with the heavy treatment, they looks like elite turf type grass with their super dark green color. In this coming Fall when I do my overseeding, I think I'll throw down an application of ferrous sulfate along with starter fertilizer.