Dead lawn and lots of Moss.

[kells620]

My name is kelly. I'm renting a house in Tigard Oregon and trying to do the landlord a favor with her lawn. The grass is all pretty much dead and splotchy, as well as overun with moss due to big pine trees on the corner, creating alot of shade. She doesn't have a ton of money and wants it done as cheap as possible. Thought about rototilling it all and seeding and fertilizing from scratch. It is early spring, but have heard fertilizing will grow weeds and crabgrass. Does anybody have any suggestions? Should I also aerate the lawn before or after seeding? I need some knowledge before I let her know how much its going to cost her. Thanks.

[tomf]

You may be able to use a moss killing fertilizer on it and then over seed and rake it in. If you roto till before the soil is dry enough to it may clump and damage the soil. You may also add lime to the lawn as moss likes acid soil, the trees add a lot of acid to the soil.

[ranman99]

hi kelly,, pine trees will dump acid into soil thru the root system or thru the needles,,, you should use a moss killer and lime then rake out the moss,,, then seed,,,make sure the soil is loose then seed with a thin fescue or shady mix and cover the seed with a thin layer of top soil or mushroom composite or pete moss and water. see what happens