March Madness

The other day temperatures rose above 50 degrees (F) for the first time in months in my winter-weary patch of grass in upstate New York, so, naturally, I headed outside with a rake.  I am an optimist by nature, so although I knew there were still piles of snow peppered around the yard, I marched onto the lawn sans outerwear, opting for just a sweatshirt and sneaks to accompany my high hopes for a fruitful spring cleanup.

Step one changed all that.  After my cartoonish slide through a spot of snow, which landed me square on my butt, feet sticking straight up in the air (and no doubt inspiring peals of laughter from any of my neighbors lucky enough to glance out at that exact moment and witness my complete lack of poetry in motion), I hobbled inside, changed my soggy slacks and exchanged the sneakers for my trusty snow boots. Grabbing a shovel, I headed back outside and gingerly shuffled through the snow to the small patch of green--only to discover it was more moss than grass.  At the sight of all that green, I saw red!

Now normally a little moss in the mix is nothing to fret over, but my front lawn had become inundated with the stuff the previous year, so I'd painstakingly toiled to alleviate all offenders--cutting back tree branches to allow more sunlight into the area, and spot-treating moss patches to individual doses of white vinegar.  I'd also incorporated healthy lawn practices, like aerating with a handheld device, allowing the grass roots the opportunity to expand and grow, and sprinkling an organic corn gluten meal fertilizer over the entire area to provide nourishing nitrogen to the grass while preventing seeds from germinating. 

I thought I'd controlled the problem.  Back in August, when my neighbor strolled over and actually complimented the appearance of my lawn, I knew a satisfaction 18 years in the making (no kidding, it took me THAT long to get my organic, pesticide-free lawn to actually look as good as the toxin-tanked counterparts around the neighborhood!  Hey, no smirking...I never claimed to be a quick learner).  Yet, it appeared all my hard work was for naught.

Now I'm not a moss-hater.  On the contrary, I've planted it liberally around the stepping-stone path leading from my woods, and it makes a lush, cushy bed to the azalea and forsythia bushes bordering my backyard property line, but in this one little spot out front I perpetually long for the glory of green grass.

So, alternating with shovel and rake, I scooped up and tossed away snow, then gave the ground a good combing to loosen the moss.  In the past I have been known to sprinkle baking soda on particularly stubborn patches of moss, to kill them and make the dislodging process a bit easier.  I noticed that in late March, with the ground still soggy from the snow, that this step wasn't needed.  The moss uprooted quite easily.  Another plus to raking up moss in late March: spores develop in April, so if the grass can be cleared of the green stuff just before that, homeowners save themselves countless hours of trying to control new patches popping up all season.

Now all I need is for Mother Nature to hold up her end of the bargain and kick Old Man Winter to the curb for good.  Spring's warmer temps and tepid rains provide the best recipe for grass to re-cover-y.