Eradicating Moss From My Driveway
Moss can be lovely. Carpeting the ground under beautiful maple trees in a Japanese garden, moss is gorgeous. Growing on my driveway along the side of my house, however, I am definitely not a fan of moss. 
Actually, it has been a big nuisance that I seemed to have been unable to kill. I would try using things I bought to kill it which didn't work very well and I would power wash it away only to have it grow back. I read all sorts of things online saying that if you have a problem you need to keep the area dry and sunny. Well, that wasn't going to work for me. My house keeps that part of the driveway in shade most of the day and my house is not moving. As for keeping it dry, anytime there is rain it takes that part of my driveway a day to dry due to the shade. I needed to find some other solution.
This spring as I was trying to figure out how to attack my moss I came upon a gardening site recommending that boiling water kills moss. I had tried everything else so I figured, why not? I tried a few pots of boiling water on a patch of the moss and the next day it was brown and dead. This was great! Not only did it actually work, but it also was a solution without any chemicals. It took me awhile to treat the whole patch along my driveway since one pot of boiling water didn't cover much area, but eventually I had killed it all.
After everything was dead I proceeded to power wash the moss to loosen it from the driveway and then scoop it into my compost bin that the city picks up. This step was also slow going. It also splashed dirt up on the side of my house so I had to go pack and power wash the side of the house when I was through.
In the end I was finally moss free on my driveway. I think two things definitely have helped. First, I had killed all of the moss before power washing so I wasn't just scattering it. Second, I actually bought a power washer (great deal at Sears on a discontinued model!) this year so I can routinely wash that area of my driveway down to keep the moss from building up again. Before I would just have a chance to power wash the area just once or twice a year which wasn't enough.
Have you ever had any moss issues at your home? How did you take care of it?
Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 9:01AM | Posted by Lisa | 6 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article 
Reader Comments (6)
We have had moss growing along the edge of some of the gardens which I only wanted the moss gone not the rest of the foliage so I used a natural moss spray which worked at killing off the moss, but because it was chemical free it took several days to work. We have one section of our roof with a moss problem, we used boiling water and vinegar, that too seems to have worked. Vinegar kills any and all plants so I would only use where no other plants work. There are several big rocks at the back of my garden where the moss can grow at it's own pleasure.
Mary-Lou- That is a great idea to add a little bit of vinegar to the boiling water. I will have to try that if it grows back.
Great job, I will definitely have to give that a try!
Thanks Lisa,
I will try using boiling water on my red brick walkway, it's been growing moss for some time but it's getting out of hand. I'm ready to see my red brick again! Wish me luck.
Bernice
With boiling water, you still must scrape to remove moss. Better: 1 cup bleach. 1/2 gallon water and 1/4 cup vinegar. Use a metal bristle brush, frequently dipped into the mixture. The moss is immediately dead as you scrape away its remains. 100% effective. Sweep the dead moss away with a push broom.
IMPORTANT WARNING:
One person suggested combining bleach, vinegar and water to remove moss. Combining bleach and vinegar is very dangerous, as it forms chlorine gas. Exposure to chlorine gas is very hazardous. In the event of exposure, the CDC suggests that you remove your clothing, quickly wash your body with soap and water and seek medical attention as soon as possible.