POSITIVES TO THE PRESENCE OF MOSS – WITH TOM PATTINSON
You may well have noticed a patch of moss in the lawn and decided to reach for a chemical, possibly iron sulphate, which zaps it within days then you rake it out.
If so, stop to consider why it appeared in the first instance.
Moss forms in lawns for several reasons.
It could be poor drainage, an acidic soil, the shade from overhanging trees or, mowing too close to the ground.
If you don’t eliminate the cause, it will return.
It’s the acidic nature of the soil that prolongs patches of moss in our lawn but I’m not reaching for Dolomite lime to raise the pH level.
There are positives in its presence.
It supports invertebrate life which a variety of resident birds feed on daily, and some (blackbird, goldfinch and wren) are currently collecting it as nesting material.
We recently raked some from the lawn for a finishing off exercise - to cover the compost in bowls containing hyacinths and dwarf daffodils.
Lawns are also a handy source when you need a natural material to line summer hanging baskets.
Pesticides were banned in this garden a long time ago.
Not just because we grow edible crops and a typical instruction on the label of a poisonous dust or liquid would read: “Warning; Do not harvest for two weeks after application.”
Also in mind was the effect on beneficial insects, the pollinators and those that prey on crop pests and are classed as the gardeners’ friends.
Insect-eating wrens nest every year somewhere in the garden.
Occasionally at ground level but last time it was at two metres in a golden conifer.
They are normally secretive birds, but one has accompanied me in the greenhouse recently. Perhaps it was in search of insects or maybe a nesting site? Or perhaps both?