How to remove moss from the lawn or antimoss perfect. Is iron sulfate the recipe for a perfect lawn?

Beautiful green expanses with grass an inch high like an unrolled carpet. It is the unattainable dream of every gardener. Unfortunately, the dream is unattainable. In our soil and climatic conditions, we often face many problems. What keeps the gardener responsible for the lawn awake at night is the invasion of mosses. Mosses themselves are not ugly and they are perfect especially to create the effect of an old, neglected climatic corner in the garden. However, these expansive plants have an unbridled appetite for new territory. Their extraordinary adaptability, resistance to unfavorable conditions and the ability to start the growing season very early make them effectively drown out and displace other plants.

Their advantage over grasses is primarily the lack of a root system as such. Mosses can absorb water and nutrients with their entire body surface directly from the air. In the event of unsuitable conditions, mosses can limit life processes to the necessary minimum and return to life in a few moments even after many months of drought. They are resistant and do not have many natural enemies, including practically no disease. Which, combined with a very easy expansion, spread by wind or fragments of vegetative parts, makes them very difficult opponents for the gardener and a great competition for grasses.

Iron sulphate in the control of moss on the lawn.

When going to war, you need to know your opponent well and use his weaknesses against him. The Achilles heel of mosses is their love of moisture. Using strongly drying iron sulphate, we hit the mosses, making it difficult or even impossible for them to function. Just a few days after applying iron sulphate, both grass and moss on our lawn should turn black. There is nothing to worry about with grass. This is a natural process of absorption of the preparation. The grass will return to its color within a few days. Moss, on the other hand, is ready to be removed by mechanical means. Dead thallus should be permanently removed from the garden, they are not suitable for composting. Iron sulphate is harmful to animals, so after its application we should close the recreational lawn for about a week and in the case of a pasture for 4 weeks.

How to use iron sulfate?

We use iron sulphate in early spring, but it can be used throughout the entire growing season from April to June. It works at temperatures as low as zero degrees Celsius. The preparation will be most effective when applied before spring fertilization, just after the first post-winter mowing of the lawn. Application during the season should always be preceded by mowing, and a few days after the treatment, it is good to feed the grass with a fertilizer suitable for its vegetative stage.

Before we proceed to the application of iron sulphate, we must protect ourselves against its undesirable effects. Iron sulphate is harmful when swallowed, therefore, during treatments with its participation, do not eat or drink. Iron sulphate is irritating to the eyes and skin, therefore we use protective gloves, work clothes and eye protection .

What doses of iron sulfate for the lawn?

The preparation is available in the form of dusty powder, powder. It can be used in this form by sprinkling directly on the surface of the lawn in the amount of 2 to 4 kg per 100 m2.

However, the most effective method of application is spraying with a 3-5% water solution. The efficiency of such a solution is 1 l per 5 m2. As a standard, it is enough to use a 3% solution. We use more concentrated solutions with extremely large amounts of particularly resistant moss.

The preparation can be administered in the form of an aqueous solution also during watering. It is then recommended to use a watering can or garden sprinkler. This form of application requires 0.5 - 2% concentration of an aqueous solution of iron sulphate. Unfortunately, due to the high difficulty of this form of application, it is rarely used. It can be used only in the case of small lawns of flower beds or local limited presence of moss. Watering even several dozen square meters of lawn with a watering can, when we need about one liter of solution for each square meter, will surpass every gardener. It is tempting to introduce the solution into the sprinkler system, but it is not a simple operation from the technical side.

How to prepare a solution of iron sulfate for spraying or watering the lawn?

For spraying, we need 3-5% solutions. The efficiency of the solution is about 1 liter for every 5 m2 of lawn. So if we have a lawn with an area of ​​about 50 m2, we need 10 liters of liquid. To prepare 1 liter of liquid for spraying, if we choose a concentration of 3%, we need 30 g of ferrous sulphate for every liter of water. We can use tap water. If we choose a higher concentration, we must add 10 g of sulphate for each subsequent percentage of concentration to 30 g of iron sulphate per liter of water. So to get a concentration of 4% we take 40g of sulphate, 5% - 50g of sulphate.

For watering with a watering can or sprinklers, we use solutions from 0.5% to 2%. With an efficiency of about 1 liter per 1 m2. So if we have a small lawn in front of the house measuring 3 by 4 m, its area is 12 m2. So one 12 l watering can of tap water with dissolved iron sulphate is enough for us. To obtain a 0.5% solution, as in the case of a spray solution, we need 1 liter of tap water and 5 g of sulphate. As before, for every 1% concentration in one liter, we need 10 g of sulphate. So if we want to water our 12 m2 lawn with twelve liters of a 2% solution, we need 12 liters of water and 2 x 10g of sulphate x 12 liters of solution, i.e. 240 g of sulphate. The measured substance is added to water and dissolved by stirring vigorously. Copper sulphate is well soluble in water, we should not have problems with its even distribution in the liquid.

Iron sulphate and paving or concrete blocks.

Unfortunately, iron sulphate strongly stains all concrete surfaces and other porous, absorbent surfaces made of natural and artificial stones. The colors have a characteristic rusty shade, their removal is difficult if the stone or concrete has not been previously hydrophobicized.

Iron sulfate and lawn fertilizers available at distripark.com .
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*This article is for informational purposes only. The presented description, in particular the use of the products, is exemplary and constitutes non-binding information about the characteristics and possibilities of their use/application. In any case, before using the product, consult a specialist whether the specific use is safe and justified. We do not bear any responsibility for the use of the proposed solutions, even in very similar situations.