Will top dressing over moss kill the moss?

Question

I have some very mossy areas in my lawn, I began to address this with soil samples, aeration, branch removal for more sun and of moss killer last summer/fall. This spring I plan to top dress areas of my lawn. Specifically the really poor areas where the moss has taken the biggest foothold.

Do I need to kill the moss first, or remove it before top dressing? Will a new healthier soil promote moss growth?

My intention is about 1.5 to 2 inches of soil over the very poor areas. So the moss would be covered.

I am interested in specifically what the effect of covering the moss with soil will do. Will it kill it? Make it stronger? Do nothing?

score 5 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:42

5

Unless you change the conditions that allow the moss to compete successfully with grass you will not kill the moss. It will be back...

increase the amount of light in the area
improve the quality of the soil
better aeration

see here

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:42

Community

1

answered Apr 02 '15 at 20:02

kevinskio

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score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 23 '24 at 18:44

I got rid of moss by

aerating the area;
topsoil of about 1 inch;
all-weather grass seed (about 2 handfuls every 1 square foot;
give it some water every day (once a day works);
if it rains and water doesn't drain will, take out you leaf blower and blow the grass for about an hour (over and over), until the grass is somewhat free of sitting water.

The lawn will be awesome in about 4 weeks.

Will top dressing over moss kill the moss?

2 Answers2