WHY MOSS GROWS.

Patea Mail, 2 August 1882, Page 4

WHY MOSS GROWS.

There are two causes why moss grows too abundantly on lawns, viz poverty and damp, and the particular cause should be ascertained before setting about the removal of the moss, otherwise we shall be working in the dark. Assuming that the lawn, if wet, has been drained, the moss can.be scratched up with a short-toothed harrow drawn over the surface in opposite directions, till the moss has been loosened, then line the harrow with thorn bushes and give the lawn a good scrubbing in various directions, till the moss has been dragged up and removed. A small lawn might be . worked with an iron rake and a hai’d birch broom. When the moss is all removed, top dress with half an inch of rich fine soil that can be relied upon to be free from weed seeds. The compost may contain a good proportion of charred refuse that has been sifted over; wood ashes, or the refuse from charcoal heads will be very suitable. The thing to aim at is a close thick turf, and this will be obtained better by the use of dressings rich in phosphates than by giving ammoniacal manures; though the latter might be the right thing to do if we wanted heavy crops of grass. Where moss is due to poverty in the soil, a good manuring will put it right; and often happens that it is better to rely on a mixutre of artificial manures rather than placing entire dependence upon any one kind. At the same time it would be borne in mind what has been said about phosphates.