Moss

My grass has been relaid twice because after the first year moss keeps growing in my lawn and taking over the grass.  Does anyone have any suggestions how to get rid of the moss? 

Moss usually means damp and poor draining.

Spring bok rake can remove it and then apply horticultual sand. Forking the soil can be beneficial too.

There are feed and weed chemicals for grass so appling this when stated can help also,

That side of the garden gets hardly any light due to fruit trees from the neighbours garden overshadowing mine.  I have treaded the garden with weed and feed and it still makes no difference.  The area is damp all the time.  Yet on the otherside the grass grows in patches and is bone dry.  Perhaps I should remove the grass and lay paving.  Thanks for your advice.

Have you used shade loving grass Typewriter?

You can get this in most garden centers in seed form. Don't know if it comes in turf form.

It does well in shade repectively,and if you can treat the area as I said in previous message, you should have a fiighting chance of having a fair lawn in the end.

That said, laying paving is not such a bad idea in my opinion. Good luck.

Moss is a sign of poor drainage and shade so improving the soil structure under the lawn is the best thing to do - scarifying with a spring tine rake first of all will remove any thatch,  then aerating using  a hollow tined aerator will remove plugs of soil, allowing you to rub in a top dressing of  a mix of loam, grit, and compost (3 parts to 6 to 1, respectively). This will gradually improve the soil structure if you can repeat every autumn and it will remove the conditions that moss prefers.

 Lawn sand applied in April/May will actually kill the moss but the problem will return if you don't improve the underlying cause of its growth in the lawn.

Hope this helps!???!

I have the same problem & agree with what has been said. Moss likes shady, damp conditions & poor drainage. Try this - Apply Sulphate of Iron 4oz sq. yard to the moss area. After a short time the moss will turn black & die. Throughily scarify the area till no moss remains. Dig aeration holes with a fork lifting up the sod will do no harm (trust me) although initially it will look awful. Apply a mixture of compost & sharp sand (not builders sand) 50/50 to the area. Resow with a shade tolerate grass seed.

Note! Apply Sulphate of Iron periodically throughout the year.

For a more radical approach try relaying area with a broad leaf meadow turf or even couch grass. Both of which seem to grow fairly well under trees.  

There's nothing worse than a recurring problem especially when it requires work to fix. I too had a moss problem, tried moss killer, even bought a scarifier. A friend suggested crowning the lawn so I raised the center by 4" using a mix of sand n' soil. A big job but after 3 years no moss.

Of cause a lot depends on how big your lawn is