WSU Extension Q&A: How to get rid of moss in the lawn

Q. I have lots of moss in my lawn this spring. How can I get rid of it?

A. Moss grows where the soil is compacted, with poor drainage and fertility, dense shade, or other reasons that keep the soil moist for extended periods of time. If the moss is just in your lawn, rake it out and make sure to provide a healthy environment for your lawn to thrive. Adequate lawn fertilization in late spring and fall, proper watering, and both good aeration and drainage will ensure your turf is healthy.

Q. How does hay stack up against other exports going out of the Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle, now called the Northwest Seaport Alliance?

A. A shipping container, which measures 20 feet long by 8 feet high by 8 feet wide is equal to 1 TEU. By TEUs, the largest agriculture export commodity is animal feed, with 130,400 TEUs, or 36 percent of the total ag commodity containers in 2015. Second was prepared foodstuffs with 20 percent of the containers, followed by vegetables at 11 percent, fruit at 10 percent, meats at 4 percent, and all others 4 percent. Agriculture exports based on value include: french fries at $747 million, apples at $497 million, hay at $461 million and legumes at $281 million. The largest importer of U.S. hay from the Northwest Seaport Alliance is Japan, however their percentage of the market is declining and South Korea (second largest) and China (third largest) is increasing in volume and market share.

Q. What hay is low in sugar content?

A. One of the most frequent questions is about hay for horses that are laminitic or insulin resistant. Laminitic horses are associated with diets high in easily digestible carbohydrates, which can occur in hay but especially grain. One way to measure this is the amount of water soluble carbohydrate (WSC). A good article on the issue and comparison of types of hay can be found at bit.ly/hay. The WSC of legume hay, cool season grass hay, Bermuda grass hay and teff hay is 9.1 percent, 10.9 percent, 7.4 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively. My research confirms that teff hay has about half of the WSC of timothy hay. So, I encourage horse owners to pay extra for teff hay and help get the market established for the crop. If you pay for extra for teff hay they will grow it.

This story was originally published April 9, 2017 at 12:22 PM with the headline "WSU Extension Q&A: How to get rid of moss in the lawn."