• Some people choose to cultivate lawn moss as a ground cover but others want to eliminate this spore causing condition from their lawns. Just using a lawn moss killing spray won't permanently solve your lawn moss problem. Eliminating lawn moss requires knowing and correcting the conditions that contribute to it--too much shade, soil compaction, acidic or alkaline pH levels, excessive soil moisture, or too little fertilizer.
  
  

Shade and Moist Soil Remedies

• Too much shade can result in lawn moss. Remedy this problem by reseeding with a shade-tolerant grass like St. Augustine and creeping red fescue. Be sure to mow these grasses high though, to take advantage of their ability to capture light with their leaves, thus reducing shade more. Correct some shade problems by properly pruning and shaping trees and shrubs in the area. Too moist soils can cause lawn moss too. This can be remedied by only watering when your lawn absolutely needs it.
  
  

Compacted Soil Remedies

• Compacted soils can prohibit your lawn grass from getting enough air in it. This, in turn, can cause lawn moss. The remedy for reducing lawn moss in this case requires an aerator's help. Get your lawn soil aerated by a professional lawn care specialist. They have the necessary tool--a piston driven type aerator--to solve this problem.
  
  And if poor drainage results from the compaction make sure your area has been correctly graded. Sometimes grading needs to be redone but a structure, shrub or tree prohibits it. In those cases you can use underground pipes to drain the compacted soil or what is known as a sump drain (a hole in the ground covered by a grate).
  
  

Acidity and Alkalinity Remedies

• Another cause of lawn moss is soil acidity or alkalinity. This is easily remedied once you conduct a soil pH test and determine the level of acidity or alkalinity. You can conduct the test with inexpensive kits or meters yourself, or you can pay someone to test your soil sample. Cooperative extension services, labs and nurseries often perform this service.
  
  Once pH level has been determined, treat acidity with limestone and alkalinity with sulfur. Acidity will be the more common problem unless your soil happens to be shady and moist, which will promote moss growth even in alkaline soils.
  
  

Nutrient Deficiency Remedies

• Moss can result when your soil is deficient in nutrients. You can remedy this problem by adding nutrient-rich fertilizer to your soil. You will need to first test your soil to see which nutrient is deficient.