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Rhododendron Blue Peter. Picture by ULF Eliasson

GARDENING

MOSS. Isnt it just a pain in the grass?

It creeps up on you and, almost before you know it, you appear to have a moss lawn.

Richard Day wrote asking my advice about his lawn at Magdalen Crescent, Cowes, which is suffering from the green invader.

He had the lawn replaced four years ago, first noticed some moss on it around a year ago and then, this autumn, it had become half moss, half grass.

"Unfortunately, the lawn is overshadowed by a large leylandii hedge and is very wet in the winter," he told me.

"I have looked on the internet but there appears to be conflicting ideas on how to deal with the moss. One is to replace it with artificial turf!"

I am afraid moss is an inevitable consequence of shade and moisture and the acidity from the leylandii hedge will give it a boost too.

If I was the sort of gardener who wanted a billiard table surface, I would consider myself plagued with the stuff because my lawn is probably more shaded than Richards, situated as it is beneath a canopy of oaks.

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