Ep. 174 Moss in your lawn

0:00Good morning, gardeners. It's Sunday morning. It's time for your favorite gardener and mine, Patrick Parent. Get yourself a cup of coffee and get out a notebook because it's time to solve all your gardening problems. Good morning, gardeners. Welcome to the Paul Parent Gardening Club. I'm your host, Patrick Parent, Paul's youngest son and I've got a couple hours here and lots of information coming your way. Before we get into that couple of ways to get a hold of us, you can call us. Our phone number is 339-645-0201. Again, 339-645-0201. And you can also text that phone number and we'll try to get you on air and get your question answered.

1:13You can also email us. Our email address here is Paul P. Gardening Club at gmail.com. Again, Paul P. Gardening Club at gmail.com. Get some good information on that email. Send it my way and I will do everything I can to help you out. That's one of the best ways because you can send a picture. You can send more information on there and I can answer it on air that upcoming week. So definitely, we'd love to hear from you any of those ways and be able to help you out. We could go now, we've had a bunch of snow and everybody, you know, there were a number of areas that were without power. There was a lot of tree damage, there was a lot of snow in general and it just, it just really hit New England hard.

2:15And so just for those who have been affected, I just want to remind you a lot of this damage, a lot of these issues that happen from snowstorms. You know, a lot of it's aesthetically unpleasing with your plants and a lot of your plants really aren't going to have a lot of damage from it. We've already had some cold weather. We've already had some snow. It's just, you know, they couldn't hold on anymore and they had some breakage on the tree or the shrub. Here, real best bet to do with any of this is once the snow kind of falls down a little bit or just, you know, melts a bit. That's when you can really get out there and do some work to do some cleanup. We want to make sure we do a fresh cut where there's some damage. You know, sometimes the branch will fall but not all of it is actually, you know, broken off of the plant.

3:17So we want to make sure we get some some nice clean cuts to those that damage. If there is, you know, some some other issues where the snow is sitting on top of it and you're noticing that it's basically kind of weeping the plant. You know, it's not one to go out there and just beat on it with like a broom to try and get the snow off to allow it to set back up. You know, think about how this snow is actually insulating our plants and it's not hurting it. You know, it is one of those things where you do see some of your shrubs, some trees that are leaning over because of the snow weight. Do your best to go up there and shake it off by hand versus using something like a shovel that you have that you've been, you know, cleaning the yard with. Something along those lines and hitting it that way. I remember as a kid, you know, we had a winter storm that was really bad in the 90s back up in Maine,

4:25lived with my parents up there. And after the storm, everything was leaning over and I was thinking I was getting out there to do really well and just break the ice to allow those trees to come back. And I had a broom and I was just hitting things left and right and the snow was flying and it was, it was fun, right? It was enjoyable. But the fact of the matter is when you're hitting something in a frozen state like this, you're doing damage to the trees or the shrub. And I know a lot of you guys already know this but realize that sometimes leaving it in place is going to be better than trying to take it off that way. If you can do it by hand, great. If you can't and you need something hit off of it, leave it alone because I've noticed a number of trees, a number of shrubs have their buds already formed for the year.

5:25And it's obvious it's, we're getting there, right? We're not far from spring. The buds are starting to form on all of our plants. So if you're in there and you're seeing the snow just sit in there, only handshake the plant, only try to get it by hand because hitting it with anything is going to cause more damage. You're going to lose buds on your trees and it could just really affect it for the rest of the year. And it's early enough where, you know, if it's an evergreen or even a deciduous, the leaves could come back. But if it's flowering, you might not get them because of breaking off some of those buds. So just want to remind everybody I know it's taken a while to dig out from this snow storm. I mean, it's funny for as long as I can remember, you heard about the Blizzard of 78, right?

6:28And it was something that, you know, it was almost, it was almost like a badge of honor that you lived through the Blizzard of 78. Everybody had a story from it, right? You know, my story that I remember, I wasn't alive at the point, but, you know, there's a couple stories that I was told for years. One of them was, you know, how my parents had a large addition on the house that they had added right before that. And they had three families in the area living with them because they had a wood stove and they could heat the whole house because there was no power, no everything. So they had three families plus their own in that, in their home, right? Just trying to take care of each other. And then my other story was my grandmother worked at Mass General during that time, you know, and was a nurse. And she said, you know, what I'm going in, I remember hearing that, you know, they were, they had nobody should be on the roads.

7:33But she went in, headed the wrong way from where everybody was going, was headed into Boston, and went in there and worked. I mean, for days on and slept there, did everything to help anybody who was still in the hospital during that time. But everybody has a story about it, right? Well, this story was one for the record books this year, the Blizzard of 26, where in Providence, Rhode Island, we had, I think I heard either 37 or 37 and a half inches of snow in one storm, which shattered the record for the Blizzard of 78, the difference. We get a lot more information nowadays, obviously, there are, there's apps everywhere you look to tell you what's going on with the weather. And we've learned so much more since then, because of it. But I'll tell you, it's almost, this is going to be our Blizzard of 78, right?

8:38So, you know, I know I'm losing a number of you saying, right, enough with the snow talk, but it's just, it's, everything kind of sticks out in your mind during these events like this. And parts of New England didn't have power for days. And, you know, the last thing they want to really think about is their plants. And so, it is a little bit past when all of this happened. But the idea here is, when you get that time, take care of your plants and see if there's any of that ice damage or if there's any damage. And, you know, kind of baby it a bit, clean them up, get them ready, and realize this spring is going to be a very good time to fertilize them first thing. We want to make sure that early in the spring you're fertilizing with the Spoma products, the Holly tones, the plant tones, any of those products to make sure that any of the damage that could have happened during these winter months.

9:47There's something to help solve it and not completely solve it because there will be some winter damage, but it will help it get better and look better long term. So, it's definitely, definitely getting you thinking, all right, what can I do, when can I do it? We'll talk, we'll talk lawns a little bit later on, we have Karen from Natural Alternative coming on. But, you know, think about what else you can be doing for your plants with the damage that's happened. It's definitely worth making sure that this spring you get some fertilizer on those guys because they have had a rough winter. Now, tell you, it's been a rough winter across the country, and we had tons of snow everywhere. You know, there wasn't as much snow, but it was snowing in Florida, it was snowing in Texas, those areas don't get it. So, your plants have had some issues this winter.

10:47And so, the best thing you can do is make sure you feed them this spring, take care of them so they can thrive throughout the year. If you wait too long, the winter damage is going to set in and there could be longer term issues. So, definitely be thinking about it this season, this upcoming season of fertilizing your trees and shrubs. And we've got to take a break here, we'll be back in a few. And welcome back to the Paul Parent Garden Club.

11:53Our phone number here is 339-645-0201. Again, 339-645-0201. And speaking of that phone number, you can call it or you can text it. Really cool, got to text this week from the 508, which is Massachusetts. And it says, good morning, how do I remove and prevent moss in my lawn? Thank you. This is a detailed question that we should start to think about what we're doing this spring with that. Because this is something that after a snowy winter, after a wet conditions, you're going to have some possible issues. Or if you've had them in the past, they're not going to go away.

12:55So, we want to look at it and say, how do we remove it? How do we prevent it? Well, let's start with the first one. There is a couple products out there that I think are the best for it. There's a product from Moss Out that is a moss killer in the lawn. It's a granular form. I find that it has the most product in it, active ingredient, the percentage wise, than others that have the same exact, it's usually iron sulfate that is added in a granular form. And I found that the moss out has a higher percentage to it. And so, when you use it, it's more likely to help get rid of it and do it quicker. Now, for actual removal, if you were to choose to use the moss out in the granular form, they also have another liquid form.

14:02You would either spray it or broadcast spread across this area that the moss is. And what this iron sulfate does is it actually kills the moss that is there on the surface. Now, I say on the surface, this is key to that. So, listen to this. So, it's going to kill it and turn it black. You know, it could take some time, but it usually 24-48 hours will turn black. At that point, you physically have to remove the moss that's there, even though it's dead, right? You have to remove it because we are trying to just get as much of that out. If you are to leave that moss there and you do not rake it up, you do not, you know, pull anything up. Some of those spores that, you know, might be on that surface that might not have gotten hit or were hanging on, can re...

15:09I don't call it bloom, but can show its ugly face again and have moss on the lawn. And so, it is very important to use a very like a hard stiff metal rake to pull up this moss. You can actually, you can use one of those detachers to pull up the moss as well to get as much of it up as possible. And this is something that you're looking to do in March or April, or you can do it in the fall as well, okay? Again, like I said, we're looking to apply that product. You're looking for an iron sulfate type product and really what that does is it dehydrates the moss itself and kills it. But the iron inside of it will actually help green up the grass that's there. So it's beneficial in two ways. This isn't just, all right, it's going to kill the moss and it's not used for anything else.

16:10This will actually help green up that grass in those early stages of the season, right? So that's why a lot of people will try to get rid of the moss and march in April because by using that iron, we're pushing that good green growth that is coming from the lawn. Now, prevent it. Well, there's a couple of things we need to do and it's going to take some time to explain. So we're going to roll over into the next segment here, but really we're looking to improve the soil and the grass health in order to make this happen. We also going to look at some of the environment around it and say, is there something we can do to make that environment better, right? We'll go into those details on the other side of the break. But if you do have some questions, you can text us or you can email us, our email address is Paul P. Garden Club at gmail.com.

17:12We're going to take a break here. We'll be back in a few. And welcome back to the Paul P. Garden Club. Our phone number here is three, three, nine, six, four, five, zero, two, zero, one. And we are answering a text from the 508. I always wanted to say that I listen to sports radio all the time and they're like, all right, from the from the car 508. All right, don't mind me. Anyways, we're talking moss, how to remove it and prevent it. We've talked about how to remove it. We want to talk about how to prevent it. Now, moss isn't something that just happens in one part of the country. It happens all over the place, so you might have this issue. It just might be a little bit different and it's all kind of pulls into the same thing.

18:14Now, we'll talk a bit later on with Karen from natural alternative in regards to soil tests. And I know you've heard me talk about soil tests repeatedly, but they are super important. And especially when it comes to the moss, we need to know what's going on underground in order to get the right solution to get rid of this moss. Okay. Now, usually, and I say usually, moss is in areas that are too acidic, where their pH levels are well below where they need to be for a lawn. And that happens to cause the moss. Now, it's not always because of that. There could be other reasons where it could be soil compaction. And we don't have great airflow. It could be too shady. You know, the drainage needs to be taken care of. And these are all factors.

19:15But I want you to start with that soil test if you have moss in the area. If you haven't had it, well, you're in a good spot, but I still think you should look at the soil test. Because again, pH is very important. pH is going to tell us, you know, where we need to be. Most lawns want to be neutral and the 6.5 and up, maybe to like 7.5, usually about 7. I'm good with anything, honestly, between 6 and 7 myself, but like a 6.5 is an ideal situation for me. Now, if you're acidic, your soil is going to be below 6. And it's going to be very acidic if it's below 5, where the moss will be growing. Now, one way you can tell if it has to do with the pH. And I can't guarantee that it's exactly this is probably some other factors. But if you have moss in an area where you see lots of pine trees, rhododendrons, azaleas, and just evergreens in general,

20:21you're knowing that your soil is going to be more acidic. A lot of evergreens, as well as pine trees, I mean, evergreen, a pine tree is an evergreen, but pine tree is very, you're seeing it a lot in New England area. If you see plants that love acidic soils, your soil is most likely going to be acidic. Now, if you have some big trees, some big pines in the area, and they surround your lawn, you know that it is very acidic, but the thing is, is a lot of the nutrients that you may be putting down on the lawn could be taken up by the trees, those pine trees instead of the lawn itself. Because those guys have big thick root systems, they go in a longer span than a grass blades root system, right?

21:27And so they're going to pull more nutrients. Because I've had a lot of people say to me, all right, I do feed the lawn, I do have this happen, but it's still very acidic. You know, they even say, hey, I put a lot of lime down, I take care of it each year, I put lime down, okay? Well, we know that, you know, well, I know. I don't know if everybody else knows, but when we are looking to raise our pH level, we add lime to the soil, okay? Alive stones depending upon how you use it, which one you use, will depend on how much you use. There is the powdered lime, there's the granular lime, and then there's the more recent up-to-date, you know, the fast-acting lime, a lime that as soon as you hit the ground, it starts working and it starts going to town and working to get that pH level up. So depending upon that, we'll tell you how much you need to use and how much you'll do.

22:28But that's going to be your start based on knowing that if you have pine trees or acidic loving plants in the area, you're going to need to make that lawn a sweeter soil. We're going towards the alkaline area on this. Now here's the thing, like I mentioned, if you've got a lot of pine trees, it's going to be hard to raise that pH level quickly. As those other plants are pulling nutrients. And so that's where the soil test comes into play. We can look at the results and see what our actual pH level is to determine how much we need to move it up. Now the fast-acting lime is one that if you use it three times in one season at the recommended rate and we'll go over that in a second,

23:28you can actually raise your pH level one full point. And so not knowing what you need, you don't want to go too high. I will say the majority of New England is going to be on the acidic side, closer to five, five point two. And so a full point is actually going to be beneficial if you haven't done anything. Forever or just in a while. So this fast-acting lime is something where you can have three applications in six week intervals. That is going to help raise your pH level up a full point. So say it was the start of spring we did it today. We'd wait six weeks. We'd put down the second application. We'd wait another six weeks after that and we would put the third application down. And then six weeks from that,

24:28you will definitely notice a difference in the lawn itself. The pH level will be brought up. And usually when there's an issue like that, we're usually doubling the rate that's on the package. Now I'm going into detail with this because it is super important because this is what's going to help prevent moss from forming in your lawn. So this is just the pH aspect. There could be some other elements that you find on a soil test that are going to tell you that all the elements are stuck. If there's too much magnesium in a soil sample, it's actually creating a barrier and blocking a lot of the elements that you've been fertilizing with. And those elements can't get in. When it gets to be to a point where there's too much, it just keeps filling up, filling up, filling up. And none of it kind of leaches out the way it needs to. So that comes into play using a product to help not only break up soil compaction,

25:28but release some of those nutrients to where they need to be. Because air rating is a huge aspect of preventing moss in the lawn. If we reduce soil compaction, and we improve the air flow and water flow throughout the soil structure itself, it's going to be more beneficial for the lawn. Now, you might have clay-filled soils, you might have a very compact soil, and that causes some of these issues. Whereas, you know, there are products out there that you can use. And we have a product, you know, for years that my father would talk about was gypsum, pelletized gypsum. You can put that down. It will eventually help break up clay-filled soils, help with soil compaction, help leach out the system. But it takes some time.

26:28So they now have fast acting gypsum. That's a sulfur-based product. You know, natural alternatives has a sulfur-based product that you can use for this. And what that does breaks up that soil compaction, you know, allows the nutrients to flow a little bit freer throughout the soil to get where they need to be. And so, use that plus looking to do a, you know, a defature or something to really help, you know, to aerate is what I was, the word I was looking at, the detacher, because the detacher was part of getting rid of the moss. I apologize. If we're looking to aerate the lawn, it's going to be beneficial to not only aerate, but to use that fast acting gypsum as well, okay? So, some other things that we need to factor in here, we're saying environmental issues.

27:30Well, moss loves shady areas, right? So, how can you reduce that if your area is full of shade? Is it pruning some trees? You know, cleaning up some of the shrubs to allow more sunlight to hit the grass? You know, that's a possibility. You can't always just take everything down for this. But if it's not getting a lot of sun, you're more than likely going to see the moss happen. And that's the same thing in those areas where it's very shady, it's more likely going to have drainage issues as well, where the soil is going to hold on to the rain or the water that you've put down by the hose in those areas for longer periods. So, it just sits without going down and seeping out. It just sits in the puddle and slowly goes down. And so, what happens there is we're flooding.

28:33We are suffocating the root systems that it's there. And moss will start to thrive in those areas long-term because it's just pulling everything out of the ground. So, again, really quickly, we're looking to aerate, adjust the pH, we're looking to reduce the shade in the area, and then improve the drainage, okay? And improving the drainage could be doing the palatized gypsum, the fast-acting gypsum, or an aerating, and that's going to help it a lot. Now, once you've kind of figured all these things out, you're going to get all here that you need to think about doing is overseeding at the end, okay? If your area has a shady area, or even if it's a sunny area, but, you know, there's a lot of moss that's been there,

29:33the moss is going to have a hard time if there is a ton of grass growing. So, we need to thicken that lawn up. We need to find, if it's a shady area, highly shade-tolerant grass, to outcompete that moss. We also need to say, all right, what's going to happen if we start to take care of this lawn? We fertilize in a program. We follow application process. Your soil and your lawn are going to work together to be thicker, stronger, healthier, and not allow that moss to come in and choke everything out. And so, you know, the final step really here is making sure you have that thick lawn. And it's not just about overseeding, it's making sure you feed that lawn as well, to make sure it can strive for you. And that's one of the big things here when it comes to moss.

30:34You know, moss is a pain in the, you know what? And some of it is just a thin layer on the top and it's easy to rake up. Some of it has dug in a little bit, but nine times out of 10, the easiest way to really get rid of it. And I'll remind you again, I already said it. It's to use a moss out, a product that has a heavy iron sulfate-based product. Right, something that has a big number. Just remember, it will turn black on you. That's a good thing. Make sure you rip it up and clean it up. Now we're going to take a break here and answer another question for you to stay tuned. We'll be back in a few. And welcome back to the Paul Parent Garden Club.

31:43Our phone number here is 339-645-0201. And you can also email us at PaulP. GardenClub at gmail.com. And if you missed part of the show, you want to hear an old episode, go to anywhere you download your podcast, whether it be Apple or Spotify, and just search the Paul Parent Garden Club, and it will come up. So, now I want to get into another question here, just as for those listening coming up, is Karen from Natural Alternative. Tons of good information, I promise you, and really get into just where the company started as well, and where they're located. All right, so jump into this question here. It says, Hi Patrick, love your podcast. I've got a question for you. I bought a four-inch hella board last week at my honies. That is blooming. I want to know when to plan it outside and how to care for it until then.

32:43I had one for years that bloomed really early, sometimes in the snow, but after my neighbor cut a tree down, I lost it because it got too much sun. And I know I should have moved it. Thank you, Carol. Now, first off, Carol, I apologize. I found your email in a spam folder. I think I moved it accidentally. And so, you emailed me a couple of weeks ago. I apologize that I didn't answer it previously. Now, let's get into it. Hella Boards are an awesome plant that loves shade but bloomed early in the season. My parents at their house in Maine had an area where it was, there were about five or six large white pines. And my dad just literally just planted Hella Boards underneath it and there were a ton of them. It was full shade. It was awesome, right? So, Hella Boards are a full, a partial of the full shade type plant. They like the well-drained soil with tons of organic matter. Here's the thing.

33:44When it comes to planting them, the best times are early spring, early fall to plant them in the ground. But we need to make sure that the ground is just not frozen. Okay? So, that's why a lot of people plant them in the fall. Now, I'm not saying you've got to wait till the fall to plant it by any means. What I'd like to see you do is plant it once the last possible frost could happen because you've bought something, you're going to take care of it and we're going to explain that in a minute. Taking care of it, you don't want to just put it out too early and have some damage to it. It does make sense that it'll be out there next year at this time. But the weather has been all over the place that we don't want to cause damage to it. Okay? So, in the meantime, we want to make sure it's in a nice cool area and again, it doesn't need a lot of sun. It can have very partial sun and it could have up to full shade in the home.

34:47Okay. We want to allow it to kind of, I wouldn't say dry out in between, but it doesn't need to, it doesn't like to sit in water, so it doesn't necessarily need to be watered often. With the weather we've been having, where it's been so cold outside and warm inside, try to find a cool place where it's not going to get too cold, but it's not going to get too warm. We're looking for something maybe 55 to 65 degrees. And again, it could be a basement. It could be an area that's just not near heater. We want to make sure it's not next to a heater to push new growth because then it's going to be really hard to get it out early enough. Okay? Big thing here is in the first growing season. You want to make sure once we do get it out there that we keep the roots cool and we water regularly during that growing season.

35:51Now, one thing to think about is, end of April beginning of May, keep an eye out. Look at the temperatures. If you're seeing that the long-term forecast has us warming up, you can start actually bringing that hella board outside, putting it in a shady area for the day, bringing it in at night. Start getting it ready to be outside. Just in case there is a frost or a freeze. The other thing you can do is say it happens in April. It's booming. It's awesome. It's warm and you plant it. You could always end up putting a blanket over to protect it if we get some frost or some cold weather. But in the meantime, don't have to do an awful lot. We don't want to force anything. We just want to keep it in a cool place. Regular waterings don't let it completely dry out but don't let it sit in water. And you really should be good to go once the season hits. Now, I hope that helps. And again, I apologize that it's a few weeks later,

36:52but I found it and I knew I needed to answer for you. Anyways, I appreciate it. And we're going to take a break here when we get back Karen from Natural Alternative. So stay tuned. We'll be back in a few.