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7 Effective Ways to Get Rid of Moss on Your Patio

7 Effective Ways to Get Rid of Moss on Your Patio

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You want to be able to use your patio for fun things, and it’s great to spend time outside when the weather is nice. Perhaps you have a cookout planned or maybe you just like sitting outside with friends and shooting the breeze.

A patio is going to be a lot less appealing to use if it’s covered in moss, though. Some people have significant moss issues that plague their patios, and they don’t really know what to do about it.

If you’ve noticed the moss getting out of control, you might be wondering what actions to take. Thankfully, it is possible to turn things around, but you have to go about things the right way.

Read on to learn about your options and the actions you should take to reclaim your outdoor space.

Why Does Moss Grow?

Moss can grow almost anywhere so long as the conditions are right. You’ll find it thrives in damp and shady areas, and it’s also capable of growing on a variety of surfaces.

It has no problem growing on paved surfaces such as patios, and this means that you have to be careful. If the conditions are right for moss in your area, your patio could be covered in it before you know it.

When moss appears on your patio, it’s generally a sign that there is a lot of moisture present. Some places might allow moss to grow due to natural moisture, but moisture from things such as sprinklers can also help it grow on the pavement.

Airborne particles will combine with moisture and encourage its growth This means that dust, dirt, and sand can combine to help form it on the pavement.

If things are humid enough, moss might form naturally even if you don’t have sprinklers nearby. This can be frustrating, but that doesn’t mean that you aren’t able to prevent it from growing.

Below, you’re going to be able to learn how to remove moss from your patio, but you’ll also learn about the steps to take to prevent it from popping up in the first place. When you know what to do, it shouldn’t be so hard to keep things under control.

1 – Sunlight Can Kill Moss

Sunlight Through Forest With Moss

One way to kill moss is to expose it to sunlight. Moss isn’t capable of growing in sunlight, and this means that some paved areas are going to be very unlikely to have problems with it.

If your patio is in full sun, it’s unlikely that you’re going to have problems. If you have some type of awning above your patio, this could be what is allowing the moss to grow.

Moss likes the shade, and you can make your patio a place where it can’t grow by getting rid of the shade. This could be either really easy to do or hard to do, depending on what’s happening.

If your shade is coming from nearby trees, it isn’t going to be so easy to eliminate it. Think about whether or not you can expose the patio to sunlight so that the moss will go away naturally.

Don’t worry if this isn’t possible because you can still remove the moss. It’s just going to mean that you’ll have to be more proactive to keep it from growing.

2 – Use Boiling Water and a Hard Brush

Boiling Water

Boiling water is going to be able to help you remove moss from your patio pretty fast. Just take the time to boil water on your stove so that you can pour it on the patio.

This hot water will help to get rid of the moss that has crept up, and you can simply scrub it away using a sturdy brush. If you have a hard brush with strong bristles, that’s what you’re going to want to use here.

Some people decide to add a bit of soap so that it can be scrubbed clean as well. With a little bit of elbow grease, it shouldn’t be all that hard to remove the moss.

If you have any problems, you can always boil up more water. It shouldn’t take too long to get this done, and you’ll be able to enjoy a moss-free patio soon enough.

3 – Use Your Power Washer

Power Washing Moss Away

Are you someone who is lucky enough to own a power washer? This could be a relatively simple way to remove the moss, but it might not be ideal.

Power washers are capable of shooting out water hard enough to remove moss from the pavement. Depending on how strong your power washer is, this might wind up working out pretty well.

One issue is that a strong power washer could also remove joint sand between your pavement. This could be an issue that will harm your patio, and you’ll want to be careful.

The good thing about using a power washer is that it’s simple. If it doesn’t remove the moss well enough, it is likely older and stubborn.

4 – Vinegar Can Work as Well

Vinegar With Sponge And Spray Bottle

Vinegar is another option if you don’t want to have to use boiling water. You can easily pour some vinegar into a spray bottle and combine it with water to create a powerful moss-killing spray.

Use equal parts water and vinegar in your mixture to get the best results. Spray the vinegar on the moss and it should help you to remove it.

Sometimes vinegar won’t be powerful enough to remove very stubborn moss, though. You’ll just have to see how it goes before moving on to another method.

It’s recommended to let the vinegar soak the moss for about fifteen minutes before you start scrubbing. Then you can use a hard brush and see if it’ll wipe away like it’s supposed to.

If this doesn’t work as well as you’d hoped, your moss issue might be a bit more severe. This means that using chemicals could be a better solution.

5 – Baking Soda

Baking Soda

Baking soda is another one of the go-to solutions when people are trying to clean and remove things. This should work fine if you’re trying to remove moss that hasn’t been there for too long.

You can sprinkle baking soda on the moss and then let it sit overnight. In the morning, you can then use a hard brush or broom to remove the baking soda and scrub away the moss.

If this doesn’t work, it likely means that your moss issue is too severe. You might need to resort to using chemicals if it has grown too strong, but baking soda is so inexpensive that trying it out is a good idea.

6 – Bleach

Bleach

Bleach will work as well, if you really want to use it. The problem with this is that bleach is very powerful, smells bad, and could harm plants in the area.

If you’re able to keep the bleach contained to the patio well enough, it should make easy work of the moss. You can just pour bleach on it and then scrub it away with a hard brush.

It might be a good idea to wear a mask if you decide to go this route. Also, it’s wise to keep pets and children away from the patio.

7 – Commercial Moss-Removing Solutions

Commerical Solution To Remove Moss Being Sprayed On Roof

There are commercial moss-removing solutions on the market that you can use, too. You can treat your patio with these solutions before cleaning the patio off with normal soap and water.

This is going to be the most expensive way to take care of the issue. If you’re having a hard time getting rid of the moss, this will definitely solve your problem.

Just be sure to follow the instructions when you’re using products such as this. Note that solutions such as this could be harmful to nearby plants as well.

Address Moisture Issues

Addressing moisture issues will help you to keep moss from growing back. You might have it on your patio now partially due to the patio getting wet too often.

Sometimes this can occur because your sprinklers will hit the patio when watering your plants. All of this excess moisture will contribute to the development of moss.

If you can address this issue, you can keep moss from being able to grow. Try to position your sprinklers better so that they won’t hit your patio.

Another idea is to just water your plants by hand so that you can be careful about not getting the patio wet. A little bit of moisture isn’t usually going to cause moss, but too much moisture can become a big issue.

Keep the Patio Clean

You might remember from earlier that dust, dirt, and sand play a role in helping moss to form. This means that your patio is more likely to grow it when it is dirty.

It should be possible to keep it from becoming an issue by cleaning your patio regularly. Take the time to keep your patio tidy, and it’ll be far less likely that moss will grow.

You could set up a regular cleaning schedule that will keep things nice. Even weekly cleaning should be enough to keep moss issues from becoming a big deal.

Cleaning your patio is pretty simple overall, and you can just sweep it with a broom each week. You could also choose to use something such as a leaf blower to remove dirt, sand, and dust from the area.

Every so often, you could clean things a bit more thoroughly and scrub the patio with some soap and water. Just remember to allow it to dry since you don’t want moisture issues to contribute to moss creation.

Sealers Might Be Useful

Sealers might be useful to use on your pavement because they can make moisture issues less prevalent. Sealing your pavement won’t prevent moss from being able to grow, but it will keep the moisture to a minimum.

Moss won’t be able to grow as fast when you’ve used sealers on your pavement, and this is why it’s recommended. If moss isn’t able to grow fast, you have more time to keep things clean.

It also makes it so that you can remove the moss more easily if it does grow. It’ll be less likely that any moss that grows will be incredibly strong, and you should be able to keep things nice and clean.

Moss Is Easier to Remove When it’s New

It’s also good to note that moss is going to be easier to remove when it’s new. If you notice it on your patio, it’s going to be best to try to remove it right away.

Waiting to remove it for a few weeks will give it time to grow, and it’ll wind up being substantially more stubborn. Being proactive about moss removal is really going to be your best bet here.

Pay attention to your patio area and take action if you see any moss start to grow. It probably won’t take long to remove a little bit of it, and you can then clean things to try to keep it from growing again.

Just Be Careful

So long as you’re being careful, it’s not going to be a big deal to eliminate moss and keep it off of your patio. You can do a better job of cleaning, and it’ll allow you to keep moss from growing in the first place.

You know more about why moss grows now, and you understand the steps that you can take to keep it from growing. Moss likes the shade and it needs moisture to thrive, so you want to limit shade and moisture to keep it at bay.

Even just cleaning regularly is something that can keep it from forming, but it’s up to you to decide which steps to take. You have the information about how to remove it now, and you’ll be able to choose the best course of action based on your situation.

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