Controlling weeds and moss in my lawn.

There is quite a decent amount of what looks to be like dandelions popping up in my lawn. It's mostly groups of them in certain areas all over my property so I was considering just spraying some killer in those areas or would a manual weeder be more effective in preventing them from coming back? Also, how do you get rid of moss patches?

 

You can go either of two ways with herbicide. You can use a general one that kills almost everything such as Roundup or a generic (the ingredient you are looking for is glyphosate) or a herbicide specific to weed varieties. The general herbicide will leave a dead spot in your lawn which could be ugly but easy for planting grass. The weed killer could leave grass near the dandelions so you wouldn't have a big dead spot.

If you have moss in your yard the best treatment is to dry it out. If there are trees or shrubs shading the area you could trim them to let more sunlight through. If it's a low spot that collects water you can do some grading to get the water away.

 

Moss is an indicator of inadequate sunlight and/or sour (low PH) soil. If you have trees either remove or prune them for better sunlight penetration.

You can buy herbicides designed to kill moss or try spraying the moss with a soap solution. After raking up the dead moss add lime to raise the PH and a fertilizer. I would probably aerate or till the area also. Plant a shade tolerant grass variety suitable for your area. You can buy moss control fertilizers for your lawn once you have grass established.

I add lime to my lawn every year to keep the soil PH from getting too acidic.