Bowling Green FAQ 14: How do we get rid of moss from our green?

The moss has found conditions which are suitable for its establishment and might be thriving in these. A dense hard wearing grass sward will provide a competitive situation in which the moss will struggle to gain a foothold, let alone thrive. So, the grass species have become weakened in some way and with reduced competitive ability have enabled moss to encroach into the green.

There are many conditions in which moss will invade and then thrive within a bowling green, however, common features are that of a thinning, weaker grass sward which has surface compaction, a lack of available nutrients within a soil, a sward which has been too closely mown, especially over long periods of time and not just occasionally for tournaments, extreme soil acidity, overapplication of irrigation – particularly where annual meadow grass is the dominant grass species, over-rolling of a sward, lack of scarification and verticutting, as well as lack of aeration activities, excessive shade conditions, especially over the autumn and winter period and a moisture retentive soil. Typically, there will be range of these features and conditions which have contributed to the moss invasion.

Eliminating moss isn’t a matter of trying one or two activities but rather finding out the underlying cause otherwise it is highly likely to be a temporary fix. Carry out a thorough investigation into the condition of the green (by doing a performance quality assessment) and gather data on the maintenance activities which have taken place. Can a cause-and-effect relationship be determined between some of the activities, materials applied (or not) and the conditions found? You should be able to find a number of probable issues which are contributing to the moss problem and a systematic rather than piecemeal approach will be needed to tackle it. See the more detailed article on Moss.