More from the PN Newbie - MOSS!

You've helped with the blackberries (which are starting to flower) and the rock crevices, athough more suggestions will be appreciated.

Now, the moss. How do you take it off the rocks around the garden (see photos under my last thread) and on terracota and wooden planter pots. What about on concrete? I was going to try bleach, but want to make sure I don't hurt any of the plants - other than the moss, of course.

Having spend the last nine years in the desert southwest and the rest of my life in Minnesota moss is now something I've had to deal with before.

Or do you just learn to live with it and remove it by hand when it gets to dense?

Thanks

Roni in North Plains

Wow, I wouldn't think of removing the moss from my rocks. I love the look, it softens and makes things look more natural. Fred meyers, home depot sell a product called 30 seconds for moss removal.

Moss is part of the Northwest.
Better just get used to it.
It actually adds some character to things.
Don't use bleach. That will ruin everything.
Carol

When I moved here last year I was charmed by the moss and I still am. IMO it softens and adds character to everything it grows on. I've put moss with buttermilk in the blender and painted the mess on garden items to get MORE moss. So, who told you moss is a bad thing?

If it's totally unacceptable to you white vinegar works great. Just wipe or spray it on undiluted and don't let it touch your plants or they will be goners too.

I was tripping on the moss too, when I first moved here. I thought it was mold or some type of fungus.

I have a very old cedar fence that my dining room window looks out on, and it gets a light coating of the prettiest green moss. I just love it. Anyway, I think the moss adds character. You'll get used to it.

Guess I won't worry about it.

I don't, however, like a green patio! Is that moss or mold on the concrete?

I know about black mould, as we had the house inspected for that and found one small patch near a baseboard in the basement. We bleached that away and it seems to be gone. Is the green on the patios moss, a non threatening mould or something that I absolutely need to get rid of. I will spray it with bleach anyway because it looks really ugly to me, but I'd like to know what it is. I assume it is common on concrete here. It doesn't get fuzzy or long like the moss, although that grows in all the cracks.

Thanks. This is probably basic stuff to all of you, but I just came from somewhere that is entirely brown unless you constantly add LOTS of water.

Roni in North Plains

Moss grows on my car every winter. I just clean it off once a year in the spring. For two years in a row I had this huge orange fungus growing in the cab of my truck. Normal stuff around here. Be more concerned about moss getting started on your roof (north and east sides usually). You WILL want to treat that as it will lift the shingles. I use the Moss-B-Ware on my roof in the fall before it gets a chance to get started. I pressure wash the moss off the patio. An eco-friendly way to remove it. It will be back of course. Other than these two areas, I love moss.

I leave moss on garden rocks/logs too. And I love the way it blankets a tree trunk especially when the sun hits. Warmer summer sun will fry much of it off anyway. I do pick out heavier growth from amidst perennials (once it warms up) so they have a chance to sprout more easily.

We have a north patio that is just an accident waiting to happen with slippery, slimy green algae or moss- don't know which. But that MUST be pressure washed periodically to keep a safe walking surface. We do use bleach there too, because nothing grows by it that we care about, just common ferns and such.

I agree: save your roof. And don't let anyone pressure wash it if it's composition. Use air 'washing' instead: just as effective, won't destroy your shingles like a strong jet of water.

Pardilinum- Do you use that truck in winter? I can't figure how one of those orange monsters could grow inside your cab! A regular NW wilderness vehicle you've got there :0

Actually I traded that truck away last year but I never drove it much in the winter. My driveway is on the north side so I guess that is why so much moss on my vehicles. I guess a stray spore snuck in and settled down. I wonder if whoever has that truck now has enjoyed the little winter surprise!

LOL winter surprise. We parked a dead car for a year behind a cedar, totally shaded spot. In our rainy climate it was a total mold-mobile inside and out, by the time the charity came to tow it away. I suspect it went for parts, because no one in their right mind would have ever sat inside.

I've seen those orange fungi on stumps and such in the woods. Sort of look like blown glass in an orange, slimy way. But the color is a nice sight in late winter.

Wanted to add that I do try to keep thick moss and algae off my terra cotta and wood planters, just for looks and to preserve the wood one more season.

I love moss on rocks too.

You'll want to get rid of moss on things like decks or stone patios, tho, as the moss will make it very slippery, esp when wet. We just use a push broom with really stiff bristles on the deck to get rid of that. But out in the garden - I love it!

Gwendalou

how about moss in the grass? We didn't do anything about it last year, and now our lawn is filled. Not that i mind most of the year, but it looks pretty bad now and will only get worse.

ideas?

Jburesh, I treated the 'lawn' for moss one year- not worth it for us: big lawn, and I use that term loosely 'weeds with intermittent grass sprigs' is more like it- used to be a pasture. The sun and warmer/drier weather will usually kill moss back enough for us, unless you're looking for that beautiful Scott's-type lawn.

I think there are plenty of lawn fertilizers with moss killer included on the market.

This seems so funny to me now as I have to plant moss where I want it and if I don't water it well it dies. But I do recall all the moss wows.
Debbie