scarifiers - get the pro's in or DIY?

The tools the professionals* use are much more vicious than the electric nonsense the big boxes sell.- that said I have an electric one from Lidl for my garden. - it takes longer and doesn't do as good a job by far .... But it does enough to stop my garden being a mossbed to satisfy me.....

*Misspent teenage years spent doing this kind of thing.

You've got 6 months to decide. Scarifying should be done in autumn. A bit of aeration, mowing and raking plus some moss killer is what you want now

apologies for not having a clue, but doesnt the scarifier aerate and prep the grass ready for raking?

i read an old thread that said instead of buying proper moss killer/'weed and feed' then buy something else in bulk, but i cant remember what that was now, id have to go through my history.

thanks

The grass looks absolutely fine. I would lift the paving stone islands, pressure wash and fix that cracked concrete drive way, sort that droopy coaxial cable, plant some hardy bushes or shrubs along the wall by the pavement, all before worrying about the grass!

Late spring if you've alot of moss and don't just want a muddy mess all winter.

I tend to scarify in spring whilst it is still raining and use feed / moss killer, then again in autumn, seems to do the trick, i have an electric scarifier i bought off FB marketplace for £25 and its been fine

I've got an electric one, it will comfortably rip several builders bulk bags of moss out of a lawn that size over a day!

But.......

It's not just scarifying and treating. That's just treating the symptoms. You need to deal with the conditions that less the moss grow. Which means aerating the soil, dividing the grass, adding vast quantities of sand and organic matter to the lawn and leveling it, finding the grass variety that thrives there, etc etc.

I've scarified and treated ours the last few years, and it does look good for ~6 months, then the grass dies back in a drought and moss comes back again over the winter. This year with the drought followed by a wet winter means it's 80% moss!

And the treatment can actually make it worse as it encourages the grass leaves to grow, but less so the roots, which means the soil ends up compacted and waterlogged again, which is perfect for moss, thankfully for only £168 a year again...........

Basically I'd either deal with it properly, or not.

apologies for not having a clue, but doesnt the scarifier aerate and prep the grass ready for raking?

My qualcast one has slicing and raking blades, the slicing ones don't go anywhere near deep enough to do the job though. The propper ones are a big heavy roller with blades on it that sink into the ground ~6" not just scratch at the suface.

i read an old thread that said instead of buying proper moss killer/’weed and feed’ then buy something else in bulk, but i cant remember what that was now, id have to go through my history.

Iron sulphate, legally you can't call it moss killer anymore.

Potasium based fertilizers are also beneficial.

Scarifier

Had one of these and done lawn quite a few times . Pulls plenty off and grass is still green.

I've got a lawn in similar condition, but about twice the size. I was intending to scarify using just a rake (appreciate it will be a workout) - am I kidding myself?

I think an edging 300mm from the house , remove the turf and slabs then new turf if you have a good local grower of the green stuff

Looks better than mine!

I claim it looks s*** for biodiversity reasons. Just think wildflower meadow rather than lawn and save your money.

That’s just treating the symptoms. You need to deal with the conditions that less the moss grow.

This. It could be poor drainage, it could be shade, it could be mowing technique and it could be a combination.
Scarifying will give you a headstart, I use a hand scarifying rake and later, when there's a bit of warmth in the soil, Mo Bacter Moss Killer

I do mine with a a fairly shonky electric scarifier that was left behind. I don't get the lawn anywhere near perfect but it's definitely better for it.

Will be doing mine soon.

I’ve got a lawn in similar condition, but about twice the size. I was intending to scarify using just a rake (appreciate it will be a workout) – am I kidding myself?

I'd kill the moss first then rake it out, otherwise it's an impossible task.

And if you're going to do it, then an electric one is worth getting off marketplace/eBay/Freecycle. Just raking up the mountains of ripped out moss into bags is hard enough, let alone doing it all by hand.

(Scarifies come with a bag like a lawn mower, unless your lawn is already 99% perfect I presume these are included as a joke by the manufacturer's).

I'd do that with a hand scarifier. It's like wolverines claws I cut myself getting out the package. It's greatly satisfying.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Garten-UGM-Multi-Change-Moss-Removal/dp/B0001FP0EU/ref=asc_df_B0001FP0EU/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=230204386967&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15376321748569095071&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007382&hvtargid=pla-371708785359&psc=1

It looks like a front lawn so I assume it doesn't get used. On that basis if leave it as its only real job is to be green which it is. If it was your back garden and you were sitting on it then maybe it would be worth doing.

I’d do that with a hand scarifier. It’s like wolverines claws I cut myself getting out the package. It’s greatly satisfying.

That's a pretty good tool by the looks..my lawn is too small to get the machinery in, but will be a pain in the arse to do it with basic garden tools. I think I'd need someting with a better handle though!

You can get scarifier rakes for less than £20. They do work but it's hard work. I used one for a bigger lawn one year and it was just as effective as the electric one I bought the following year.

So if you have time and a relatively healthy back, try a manual scarifier.

I bought an electric one of a guy in the village through FB Marketplace. There is no way I'd want to be extracting the sheer volume of moss that came out of our front lawn by hand. I had to spread it over couple of weekends as I'd filled the wheely bin and all the bags I had. Even getting the kids to compact it in the bin didn't really help - it's quite fluffy.

I'll be doing the biannual moss cull in the next couple of weeks. Kill scarify and a couple of weeks later I'll seed it. Cnsidering top dressing and a wildflower section but the top dressing idea sounds both expensive and excessive when I don't really care that much. It is nice when it looks nice though I'm sure it's more hassle than it's worth.

I think I’d need someting with a better handle though!

I think you know this and we're making a joke but to be clear.... The handle is seperate.

I have since noughts other bits for the end I was that impressed.

That lawn doesn't need scarifying it needs feeding. Chuck some feed on there it'll go dark in a few weeks. Moss and weeds grow where grass doesn't, so help the grass grow, pull up the weeds and it'll be fine.

You need to understand why the grass wasn't happy. You may need sand but you most likely need to add a lot of organic matter - it depends what your soil is like underneath.

I think an edging 300mm from the house , remove the turf and slabs then new turf if you have a good local grower of the green stuff

i think if we removed the turf, itd be replaced with gravel. as i mentioned in the OP i wish we'd left it like that in the first place. out of interest, how easy is it to remove turf? another tool i need? 😀

It looks like a front lawn so I assume it doesn’t get used. On that basis if leave it as its only real job is to be green which it is. If it was your back garden and you were sitting on it then maybe it would be worth doing.

yes, its only cosmetic. it looks crap tho as it is, hence trying to save money on making it look better. or gravel it 😉

The grass looks absolutely fine. I would lift the paving stone islands, pressure wash and fix that cracked concrete drive way, sort that droopy coaxial cable, plant some hardy bushes or shrubs along the wall by the pavement, all before worrying about the grass!

absolutely fine? :D. i thought about removing the slabs, but am hesitant as theyd go well with gravel if we went back to that. (theres a bit of a theme running here isnt there). pointless sorting the driveway as we keep getting a leak under it and every time it gets sorted they dig out holes and replace with different coloured concrete. looks like a patchwork quilt :-/

It’s not just scarifying and treating. That’s just treating the symptoms. You need to deal with the conditions that less the moss grow. Which means aerating the soil, dividing the grass, adding vast quantities of sand and organic matter to the lawn and leveling it, finding the grass variety that thrives there, etc etc.

i think the cause is probably the sh1t 'topsoil' that travis perkins gave us, full of weeds. neighbours have managed decent looking front lawns so i dont think theres a particular problem, altho it doesnt get a lot of sun (east facing and no sun after midday)

Scarifier

Had one of these and done lawn quite a few times . Pulls plenty off and grass is still green.

interesting, maybe worth a cheap punt?

so, first things first. are we agreed its not really scarifying time of year yet, so i just need to aerate and kill moss first?
how would i aerate it if not with a scarifier? and one of those portable squirty sprayers full of iron sulphate then?

thanks everyone.

Just buy some wildflower seeds in September, aim for a MG5 mix from Emorsate Seeds, create 30% bare ground in the autumn and let it all come through in the spring. Your lawn will develop in to a species-rich meadow and you'll attract pollinators. You can then marvel at the different species, and colours, in your lawn.

Just edging it properly would make a difference - I’m not a fan of lawns, but if you’re going to have one, it’s got to be reasonably neat.
As an alternative, scarify/rake it out and plant some wildflower seeds - add yellow rattle to limit grass re growth and you have pretty colours, bee friendliness and only have to cut once or twice a year!

Pump track is what you need. 👍

My lawn was far worse than yours. My neighbour put me onto this stuff:

https://jdsdiy.com/products/vitax-moss-remover-100m2

Basically it is fertiliser with a bacteria in it that eats the moss

I used to use iron sulphate but it turns the lawn black and you have to rake it out. Of course the moss just came back.

This vitax stuff you just apply twice a year and it keeps the moss at bay.

so, first things first. are we agreed its not really scarifying time of year yet, so i just need to aerate and kill moss first?
how would i aerate it if not with a scarifier? and one of those portable squirty sprayers full of iron sulphate then?

My schedule (starting this weekend probably as the grass just about needs it's first cut):

D-Day: Cut the grass as short as possible. It's not the normal and healthy way to do it, but you need to start with basically no leaves otherwise you're just wasting moss killer and the scarifyer will rip out the grass as well.

Weekend 1: Kill the moss before you scarify, even if you don't want to make life easy, it'll at least reduce it to a fraction of the volume. No need for fancy spreaders, just mix it in a watering can, do a quick "dry" run with a watering can of water and then work out how many cans would be needed to cover the whole lawn walking up and down, then across, then repeat (seems the easiest way to minimize a grid appearing or over/under dosing) and dilute the crystals into that much water (it's about 50-100ml crystals in a 5l watering can). DO NOT LET A DROP OF IT LAND ON ANY WOOD, CONCRETE OR BRICKWORK, IT'LL STAIN IT BLACK AND IT'S A STAIN, IT DOESN'T WASH OUT.

Weekend 2: Aerate it, either either with a hollow tine fork, like a big fork that you step on and it pushes out sausage sized chunks of turf to let air down to the roots. Or just with a spade, just drive it in ~4" at ~6" intervals, then start the next row interlaced with the first.

Weekend 3: Cut grass again. Run the scarifyer over it (depending on manual Vs electric and how much lawn there is to do this can take several passes before you actually see the ground as bare earth with distinct grass plants. Apply a second dose of iron sulphate to kill of any residual moss/spores. There's a critical mass of moss, if you don't get sufficiently below this it'll re-colonize as soon as it rains and the effort is wasted.

Weekend 5: Unless it rains a lot best leave it a couple of weeks to wash away before seeding.
Water it every day it doesn't rain for the first month and don't cut it until it's unbearably long. Then cut on the max setting on your mower with a nice sharp blade (you want to cut it cleanly, not leave half the grass yellow and bruised and rip the other half out the soil), before reducing it a bit each week/fortnight as needed.

Iron sulphate for the moss and grass greening - cheaper buying it as so, via ebay/amazon.

Weeding, I find either soluble weed and feed or the granules best, but ideally need to do it when you are expecting rain.

At our previous place we had a large lawn.

It had weeds and stuff growing in it.

Paid for the local Green Thumb (other grass people are available) bloke to turn up and treat the lawn every 3 months.

Made a massive difference and cost less than buying the lawn treatment stuff from B&Q.

Just put a sculpture of a shitty old Vauxhall up on blocks with the wheels removed and different coloured doors on the concrete part then tell the neighbours it's meant to look like that and if they don't appreciate it, they are uncultured louts who wouldn't recognize art if it was sat right in front of them.