Moss from lawn

Can we compost moss which were taken out of the lawn? My husband has been putting moss in the compost bin and has been there for years but don't seem to have decomposted. Or do they just take longer to decay. Is this what they use for making peat moss.
Sorry for being ignorant. I am just a learner.

 

I took quite few barrowloads of moss out the lawn early last year ('07), and piled it up in my composting area. It's still there, now dead and grey coloured, but not much sign of it rotting down. I can't wait any longer for it to rot, and I'm sure it's dead, so I'm gradually mixing it in with other compost and using it around the garden.

 

Hi Beechleaf,
thanks for your reply. Will it not grow back and will be safe to use for any plant.

 

The safest thing to do is get rid of it, in other words; bin it!

Moss peat is extracted from peat bogs, not that which is taken from your lawn!

Cherrio

 

I don't belive the moss from the compost heap will burst back in to life, and I don't believe it will be harmful to your plants. It will slowly rot down in the soil. Moss is a green plant which dies when kept in the dark for long enough, as in the compost heap. Moss grows from spores, if the conditions are right, and so it does tend to reappear in places where it has been removed from, unless the basic conditions have been changed. I've been digging in the dead moss from my compost heap and generally using it like any other compost, and there is no sign of it re-growing in the place where I've put it.

 

The sensible aproach is to spray the moss before you scarify with iron sulphate or alternativly apply lawn sand.

Scarifiying live moss is a waste of time as you spread it. Dead moss can of course be composted

 

Moss does take a while to rot down, but rot it will. I rake a lot out each Spring and it gets mixed with autumn leaves, garden shredder material and green stuff and at the end of two years I've got some very respectable compost.

 

Hello Beechleaf,Makka, Paul and Dave,
Thanks for your advices and informations. I am surely learning some tips now.
I think I am going to bin it or put it in a separate composter as it rots longer.

letty