Nature Abhors a Vacuum: Moss Lawn Care

Q: My grass lawn is becoming a moss lawn of its own accord. What can I do to help it become a moss lawn? Eliminate weeds and sparse grass?

A: Grass to moss is the direction of a lot of lawns. As trees grow larger, their shadow encroaches on what were formerly sunny lawns.
Aristotle observed, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” Your thinning lawn is a vacuum that attracts plants that enjoy a shady environment. My colleague, Theresa Schrum, noted that “Nature always bats last.” You have wisely chosen to go in the direction nature wants to go anyway. Moss is not hard to grow as long as it’s moist continuously, even in summer.
I would buy two or three lawn sprinklers and put them in the largest areas of your lawn and turn them on. The moisture footprint of the sprinklers tells you where to concentrate your moss lawn. It could be square, full circle or a half-circle — whatever your sprinkler’s pattern is. Connect them all to a hose manifold and connect the manifold to your faucet.
Now all you have to do is turn on that one faucet to water your entire moss lawn multiple times a day when it’s hot. I have found that a very, very light spritz of glyphosate will kill weeds and grasses without much harm to the moss.

Audrey Gilmore

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