Lawn Talk with Harold Enger - Podcast Transcription

 

Episode: Moss Control

 

 

Tim Kauffold: Welcome to Lawn Talk, I'm your host Tim Kauffold.

 

Lawn Talk is a series of conversations with Spring-Green lawn care professionals. 

 

Joining me is Harold Enger. Harold has worked in the Green Industry for nearly 30 years and is a Certified Turfgrass and Ornamental Landscape professional.

 

Today on Lawn Talk we're speaking with Harold about moss. Harold, what are some of the problems unique to the Pacific Northwest?

 

Harold Enger: Moss is one of the problems that is unique to the Pacific Northwest. Because of the weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest which is about nine months of cool, mild rainy, overcast weather it’s a great environmental condition for moss to grow. In fact as they say if it stands still for more than 10 minutes, moss will grow on it, so often time's lawns develop large patches of moss, which will form unsightly patches. It just doesn't look good. So it has to be sprayed with a, ah, product to control it. Iron sulfate is usually what is used to control it or parasulfate, um, is sprayed on the lawn to kill off the moss.

 

Tim: But isn't moss found throughout the U.S.?

 

Harold: Oh, sure you can find it in many different places.  There are many, many, many different varieties of mosses, but the climate in the Pacific Northwest is especially conducive for the development of moss to great extent. Occasionally we will see it in some lawns that are shady or really wet throughout the country, but the major concern is in the area of the Pacific Northwest, where we have to include it as part of the program in order to keep it under control to provide our customers with good looking lawns.

 

Tim: You talked just a moment ago about having to put down a control for the moss that would have to kill it off. What happens then after the moss dies?

 

Harold: What will happen is the moss will actually turn black, so now you have these big, black patches in your lawn and you'll have to rake out the larger patches—the smaller ones will decompose on their own— but you'll need to rake that out to remove it out of the lawn so that your grass can regrow into those areas and fill in those areas.

 

Tim: So when I've cleaned the moss up, are there going to be some bare spots in the lawn, or is the grass pretty much there?

 

Harold: The grass will regrow into those areas. The grass is there. It's just being covered up by the moss. Once you get rid of it the grass will grow. In certain severe situation you may require some reseeding in the spring, but for the most part the lawn will recover on its own.

 

Tim: After I've had my Spring Green professional come out and take care of the moss for me, is this going to come back?

 

Harold: Well, unfortunately the weather conditions are such that yes it will probably come back every year because of the extended cool, mild, wet weather that folks in the Pacific Northwest have to endure every year, so it's going to be an annual event to spray the lawn for moss.

 

Tim: And why then it should it be a part of the program for every homeowner out there.

 

Harold:  Yes it should. There's a few ones that may not have it, but for the most part, everybody has a problem with moss and needs to have it treated or else we will have a lawn that just doesn't look good. And in the summer time, believe it or not, it gets very, very dry in Washington, Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest and that moss will turn brown, which will not look very attractive in your lawn.

 

Tim: If you would like to know more about services available from your local Spring-Green lawn care professional, visit the Spring-Green web site, at Spring-Green.com.  There you will find more detailed information, including how to contact a Spring-Green lawn care professional in your area.

 

This has been Lawn Talk, an on-going series for homeowners looking to protect and enjoy their outdoor investment, brought to you by Spring-Green Lawn Care and its many local lawn care professionals nationwide. 

 

Find more episodes at Spring-Green.com or on iTunes under Lawn Talk. 

 

Thanks and have a green day!