17 Mar 2007
We have quite a large block-paved drive at the front of our new house. There's a big flower bed to one side, but otherwise the whole thing is paved. It looked very smart when we moved in, but grasses, other weeds and mosses have started to grow in the gaps between the blocks, and they are encroaching on the surface. I actually quite like the moss (it's a lovely bright green and a wonderful texture), but it makes the area very slippery when it's wet, so it has to go. We've been thinking about tackling it for a while, and bought a small, hook-shaped tool for the job, but I decided that today was moss-scraping day.
I started at the top of the drive, nearest the road, and after a few minutes heard a voice saying, "You've got yourself a big job there." I looked up to see an elderly woman with a shopping basket on wheels. I smiled and agreed. "You want to get yourself some weedkiller and spray the whole lot, then you can just brush it up." I know that she was trying to be helpful, but I was thinking, "I don't want to napalm the front garden, thank you very much". Not wanting to be rude (or start a debate about the merits of organic gardening), I half agreed with her out loud.
For the first ten or fifteen minutes, the work was quite enjoyable and rewarding. You scrape between the blocks with the hook, peeling off a fat, green strip of moss, then move on to the next one. But after fifteen minutes, I was beginning to flag as the novelty of moss-scraping wore off, and a very non-organic napalm campaign was sounding like an attractive plan.
I doggedly carried on through this sedentary version of the marathon runner's 'wall', and eventually found that the activity became quite an engaging routine. I alternated between kneeling to scrape, and standing to sweep away the loose moss and see how much I'd done, and kept thinking that I'd just do a little bit more before I went in. Unlike many things I do in life, you can actually see real, concrete progress with this job, and that was very appealing.
I didn't quite get it all done in the end (it's a space large enough for 3 cars, so that's a lot of cracks to scrape), but the worst is done and it looks pretty smart. I keep looking out the window to admire my handiwork.
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I just can't imagine wanting to scrape beautiful moss away from anything. Moss is in my top 5 things I love about living in the Pacific Northwest. Cool to the touch. Smells great. Responds visibly to environmental conditions. Comes in so many beautiful variations of green, red and brown. Can grow almost anywhere here. It's terrific.by Taylor Singletary @ 17/03/2007 9:19 pm • Permalink
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The lawn in our back garden is mostly moss!! This is our first garden and it's 50 metres long... So I have been doing a lot of moss scraping - though with a rake/tine rather than a hook. This is easier than your job I think in that I don't need to be so meticulous, but then I want to remove the cause of the problem, so I have been trying to aerate the lawn and loosen its structure. This has involved pushing a garden fork 4-5 inches down into the turf, gently swaying the fork and going to the same thing every ten centimetres... I still haven't finished! What I'd love to do is find an organic 'napalm' for actually getting rid of the moss, but I haven't yet found any such stuff yet. My other joyful job has been trying to remove the well established ground elder... Now that's a job. Much like your passer-by, everyone has said I should use chemicals - that it's a virtually impossible job by hand. I'm starting to wonder if they're not wrong. I've spent three solid weekends on this, and the stuff really does keep coming back. For all the hard-work (and frustration of seeing that you haven't quite succeeded!), it is quite satisfying work. I find it a really good way to unwind mentally. We'll see if that feeling survives!by Soapbox @ 18/03/2007 10:39 am • Permalink
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An alternative to napalm (organic or otherwise) and elbow grease would be to rent a pressure washer for a few hours (or pay for someone to come and do it for you). My brother used to have a mobile car valeting business, and in addition to washing cars, he used to clean people's patios for them.by Martin Polley @ 19/03/2007 7:13 am • Permalink
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The ground here is still frozen and snow-covered, but I just *know* the weeds are biding their time below the surface, waiting for the joyous moment they'll be able to leap out of hiding and establish their usual stranglehold on our garden. I bought one of those hook-shaped tools from Lee Valley Tools last year, for scraping small weeds from between the flat stones on our driveway. My enjoyment of the novelty wore off far more quickly than it did for you. This year, I think I'm going to look into some organic napalm solution, as mentioned by one of your earlier commenters. Debbie "Die You Weeds Die Die Die" Ohi6
They should be protected by law. It's a shame!!!!7
My other joyful job has been trying to remove the well established ground elder... Now that's a job. Much like your passer-by, everyone has said I should use chemicals - that it's a virtually impossible job by hand.by Backgammon @ 08/02/2008 10:17 am • Permalink
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You people are crazy - moss is seedy and you slip on it if its wet, too many grazes and cuts walking through the bushes while it's been raining.by Organic Food Info @ 22/02/2008 7:45 am • Permalink
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Try this - great fun, reasonabl effective and really scares the neighbours... http://www.gardening-tools-direct.co.uk/Merchant2/4.13/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1&Product_Code=sheenx300&Category_Code=BCUTTERby Julian Barker @ 17/03/2007 9:01 pm • Permalink