MOSS ON LAWNS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 August 1941, Page 8

MOSS ON LAWNS

HOW TO DESTROY IT. Lawns made on heavy soils arc often covered with moss in winter. This is usually due to imperfect drainage and improving the drainage is the only permanent cure. For the immediate destruction of the moss, however, spraying with a solution of permanganate of potash is recommended. The usual strength is half an ounce to one gallon of water. If mixed in a watercan it may be half an hour before the permanganate has all dissolved in spite of the purple colour of the liquid. Here is a quicker way of dissolving the chemical. Let us assume that 20 gallons of solution -are to be prepared. The necessary ten ounces of permanganate are weighed out into a bucket. An old tin with a capacity of half a pint is filled 20 times with water, the water being emptied on the crystal. Stirring will dissolve the crystals of permanganate, producing a very strong solution. This work should be done a day before the solution is needed. When the spraying is carried out, the same half pint tin should be used and to every gallon of water one tinful of the concentrated solution poured and stirred for five seconds. In this way a large area can be covered without waiting for each mixing of crystals to dissolve.