Moss in lawns treated by franchise

Has anyone else noticed a big increase in the amount of moss appearing in lawns treated by Green Thumb. I am on the Lancs / Manchester border where the soil is poor draining as its pretty much all clay and we get more than our fair share of rain. Moss is an issue in most of the lawns I cut but I have been doing this for 8 years now and when I first started, all the Green Thumb lawns tended to have very little moss in them. Now they are as bad if not worse than non treated lawns.

Is it just coincidence / climate change / bad luck that since they started offering a scarifying service their lawns seem to now be full of moss or is there something a bit more profit enhancing behind it? Have they changed the product used for their the quarterly treatments to ones that no longer control moss so that scarifying becomes an essential add on? or am I just getting cynical in my old age ?

A couple of my customers have asked me for a price to scarify and asked about other methods of getting rid of the moss. Before I go to far into pricing this up I am just looking for a bit of feedback on Green Thumb and their products in relation to moss.

Cheers Andy

Cultural method in lawn care is better than using chemicals in my view as using chemicals is a quick fix and has no longevity. I scarified a customer's lawn today (good money) to reduce the thatch build up and then over seeded the lawn. No chemicals used whatsoever. In my view the perfect lawn is unobtainable in the wetter parts of the U.K. plus few customers would want to spend money on lawn care as essentially grass would need to be mowed three or four times a week with a cylinder mower to thicken the swards. A light scarifying on a monthly basis plus hollow tining is part of regular lawn maintenance. Impossible if you got children playing in the garden plus garden furniture scattered around plus pets ( neighbours' cats) fouling the lawn.

Better to mow the grass at the right height in difference directions plus a light scarification in the autumn and Spring with appropriate grass seed mix sown afterwards.

Replies

PRO

Richard Gadsby September 20, 2016 at 7:44pm

Not sure if its anything to do with that. It's been very wet this year with gardens soggy for long periods of time.
That's my take on it
PRO

Andrew Watts September 20, 2016 at 9:20pm

I think you're getting cynical in old age; as far as I'm aware they still have a winter moss control as part of their offering. Lots been said here in the past about GT and why they would have more moss, so no need to add anything to that.

However, before selling a scarification make sure it's required by checking for thatch levels.
Andrew Midgley September 20, 2016 at 10:43pm

Cultural method in lawn care is better than using chemicals in my view as using chemicals is a quick fix and has no longevity. I scarified a customer's lawn today (good money) to reduce the thatch build up and then over seeded the lawn. No chemicals used whatsoever. In my view the perfect lawn is unobtainable in the wetter parts of the U.K. plus few customers would want to spend money on lawn care as essentially grass would need to be mowed three or four times a week with a cylinder mower to thicken the swards. A light scarifying on a monthly basis plus hollow tining is part of regular lawn maintenance. Impossible if you got children playing in the garden plus garden furniture scattered around plus pets ( neighbours' cats) fouling the lawn.

Better to mow the grass at the right height in difference directions plus a light scarification in the autumn and Spring with appropriate grass seed mix sown afterwards.
- This reply was deleted.
  - Andrew Midgley September 21, 2016 at 9:12pm
    
    John, I dig out the dandelions as they appear but by and large I leave the daisies and clover where they are as they attract beneficial insects to the garden. I mow my customers' lawns weekly at the height of the season being careful not to scalp the grass and mowing in different directions each time I come to ensure that the grass is cut evenly. I occasionally might rake out a persistent patch of weeds and then over seed with grass mix that I have pre chitted a few days before to speed up germination. In my view is a 'perfect lawn' is so artificial that it does not compliment a garden at all. However, each to their own.