Sometimes people post in the gardening uk subreddit all like. 'Help, how do I get rid of this DISGUSTING yucky moss in my lawn and keep it 100% grass' and then it's the most beautiful, healthy carpet of moss you ever saw 😭
It's genuinely beyond me why you'd want to get rid of something that grows naturally in our climate, is perfectly adapted to your specific garden conditions, is great for the environment and requires zero maintenance.
Grass lawn people lowkey feel like a weird cult in this country sometimes
Okay this is driving me crazy so I've got to say something. Y'all think you're being enlightened but actually you've just replaced one dogma (lawn good) for another dogma (lawn bad).
I'm begging you for the love of god go outside. And ideally learn some ecology.
Lawns are bad, universally, IN THE US. I always get uncomfy when I see American anti lawn content because it's too non specific, and I fear chronically online people from other countries will eat up that dogma without understanding WHY.
Lawns are bad in the us because they're not native, and require lots of watering. But guess why the immigrant Americans grow this immigrant plant? BECAUSE IT IS NATIVE IN EUROPE. Specifically the UK.
Now don't get me wrong, toxic lawn culture in the UK is still a thing. But the thing here isn't *having* a lawn, it's how you manage it. Specifically weedkiller and mowing it within an inch of its life to selectively benefit a single species or two of grass.
If you go to random scrub land here, guess what's growing? Lawn. If you sit on any random lawn in the country guess what's growing there? Litterally hundreds of species. I know, Ive counted. Litterally go sit on a lawn and see how many species you can count, or better yet, identify. Now realise that the grass itself is likely at least ten species.
Okay now go sit on a moss lawn. And now get up again right away because a) you're probably allergic b) there aren't any non moss species to count and c) your arse is probably very wet.
Remember "no mow may"? Yeah that's because if you just let your grass grow a little the seeebank in the soil is litterally chock full of good shit that will spring into life, and benefit not just the soil, the air temperature and the humidity, but also all those pollenators we keep planting for. Plus birds eat the seed heads. Ideally mow it twice a year only to keep it from getting uneven and from developing into shrubland.
Okay so we get it, grass can be good. But why so mad at this post in particular? What's wrong with coo'ing over moss? Surely it is also natural, and since it's growing there naturally, surely it's good?
Here's where I get a bit into conjecture, because most of what I'm about to say is stuff I'm inferring from my own knowledge, rather than things I know directly. So if someone actually knowledgeable about UK ecology wants to correct me, I'm open to being corrected.
I actually don't think this soil is healthy, the plantlife biodiverse, OR the land practical for human use.
Think about where moss normally grows. Rocks, forrests, and damp places. In fact that's probably why y'all have a romantic association with it.
So what does this tell us?
Rocks - moss has no root system so it grows where things with roots can't outcompete it.
Forrests - moss is shade tolerant. It thrives where other plants are out competed by the trees for light and nutrients.
Damp places - moss likes places with consistent water. It absorbs it through its "leaves" because it has no root system
So why is it growing out in the open like this? My best guess is heavy clay soil. Clay soil is wet, and a lot of plants don't like it. Not having roots, liking wetter conditions and having no competition with other plants, like grasses.
Okay so why is that a problem? Clay soils are natural too right? Yes and no. Clay soils are natural, yes. And there are probably places that grow like this naturally. This is the big part I might be wrong about.
But you know what makes clay soil less heavy? Roots. And organic matter.
And you know what makes it more heavy? Being stripped of organic matter, and being compacted. Ie human mistreatment.
Soil that has no grass on it? Red flag. Grass out competes everything given half the chance so why is it absent. Mossy ground to me is just the wet version of dry crumbly dirt.
Also? MOSS HAS NO ROOTS. That means three things for a big open area like that.
1) not at all resilient to foot traffic, ie use, which is the purpose of a flat open area like this in any human oriented garden
2) not resilient to drought. I saw this a lot in a mixed moss grass lawn in an apartment I used to live. The ground had big brown patches any time it was drier, some dead or dormant, some actual bare ground. Not good for soil erosion is bare ground.
3) not resilient to flood. Clay soils are already really bad at absorbing excess water because they're basically water proof. Clay soil with no roots? Gotta assume just as bad or worse.
And yes human use does matter. We are part of nature too.
And just in case you think I'm a shill for big lawn or something, my solution? Not grass. If grass could grass would have already. Because, y' know, grass is like, everywhere, because it's like... native here. 👀
No my solution would be docks. Those hated lawn pests. Docks and dandelions. Because they are pioneer species with big ol' fuck you tap roots that break up clay soils.
But also I'd do my research first. I'd look around the area for what's growing naturally. I'd examine the soil. I'd watch the garden for a whole year to see how it behaved. I'd read up on whether moss lawns are naturally occurring, or if they are likely a sign of compaction. I'd sit and identify what's growing between the moss and see what bugs visit it.
