Non-Toxic Homemade Weed Killer Recipes #2: How to Get Rid of MOSS

Welcome back to our blog series on homemade chemical free weed spray recipes you can safely make at home! Just like all of our DIY products, these recipes are non-toxic and safe for use around your family and pets–but please read the recipes carefully before using! Many of these recipes create an un-targeted herbicide, meaning they will most likely damage your grass and other plants if you broadcast spray.

Please note: These recipes should only be used on green, healthy lawns that are not currently under drought or heat stress.

For our second installment, we want to talk about a particularly stubborn bit of vegetation that can plague just about anyone’s lawn: Moss. Usually, the only way to get rid of moss in any permanent way is to dig it up and re-seed the bare spots left behind. But did you know you can use our Liquid Iron to kill moss, too?

In your gallon pump sprayer, mix the water and Liquid Iron concentrate (you can also mix the liquid iron at 2 oz per quart of water if you are using a hand sprayer).

When to apply: Apply early in the day before the heat closes the pores of the plants. The time period when the dew has mostly dried off would be ideal, or you can apply in the evening after sunset.

How to apply: Set your sprayer to a fine spray pattern and coat all visible moss with your homemade moss killing spray, being careful to avoid spraying the grass. 1 gallon of this mixture will treat about 500 sf. The moss should turn blackish-brown within 24 hours; if it doesn’t, increase mixture strength to 9 oz Liquid Iron per gallon. Grass may turn brown if over applied, but it should recover.

What to do after the moss is dead: You may still need to pull out the dead moss after it dies, simply because it will take a long time for the dead plant to decompose. But fortunately, the moss will be much easier to rake up and dispose of than it would be if it was still alive and thriving.

Remember, weeds LOVE bare soil, so it’s important to get new grass growing where the moss was, ASAP.

Bonus: whatever Liquid Iron you have left over can be applied to your lawn at the regular rate later in the season when you want to green up your lawn without encouraging more growth!

As always, make sure you don’t mow your lawn too short! Short grass can expose the bare soil below and leave your lawn vulnerable to new weeds and moss spores.

If you have found a non-toxic weed control method that works for you and are willing to share it with the lawn care and gardening world, please let us know!

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