A little January/February lawn care

can save a lot of work come spring.

This tip’s pretty specific to those areas that receive lots of rain during a typical "Northwet" winter. With all the moisture and mild temperatures we get comes a real pain for your lawn care chores… moss growth. But putting in a little effort out in late January/early February is a surefire way to discourage major moss problems. Controlling its growth now is a quick chore compared to fighting big patches of moss later this spring, when you'd much rather be planting flowers.

If you don't have any moss growth, here's all you do...

Just put down a little dolomite lime sometime during the last couple weeks of January or the first week or two in February. The winter rains wash the lime into the soil, turning it slightly alkaline and discouraging moss growth. We also recommend hitting your lawn with lime in the fall. These two applications a year can do a lot to discourage moss growth and save you time.

If you already have moss growth...

• Kill the moss by applying a specially formulated moss control product. Make sure the product has iron, which is the most effective agent in the elimination of moss and won't harm the relatively dormant grass.
• Remove dead moss. After applying the moss control, wait a few days then thatch your lawn to remove the dead moss. Once the moss is raked away, moisture, fertilizer, and new grass seed can easily penetrate down to the soil.
• Reseed your lawn. After the moss is removed, bare spots are usually left behind where the moss had crowded out the healthy grass, so reseeding is essential.
• Follow-up with an application of dolomite lime to discourage further moss growth. This will also help correct acid soil conditions, often a problem in the Northwest.

We'll see you out in the yard...

While much of the information in these tips is applicable in several gardening zones/climates, some of the plants and timing suggested are best suited to the Northwest, generally in the mild/wet growing regions found along the I-5 corridor. You should make appropriate adjustments or consult local gardening experts in regions whose climates differ from this area of the Northwest.