Just as moss can ruin your roof, moss can damage hard surfaces. Once established, mosses hold in moisture that deteriorates surfaces beneath. From concrete and brick to wooden decking, moss shortens the lifespan of walkways, driveways and outdoor areas meant for long-term enjoyment.
If you've got stubborn moss marks, a half and half vinegar/water mixture can be effective for removing troublesome stains and is another cost-effective means of removing moss from concrete surfaces. White vinegar is the best to use and can be mixed in a spray bottle to quickly and easily spread across wide surfaces.
However, moss isn't bad in itself, and it may even give a certain dose of charm to your pavers, if you are looking for a more rustic look. Despite this, moss can be difficult to control because it grows and spreads very quickly, and can get especially slippery and dangerous on rainy days.
Left unchecked, moss can lead to structural damage, and that means extensive home repairs. Heavy moss growth weighs down roofs, displaces shingles and retains moisture that leads to rot and water damage. Patios and walkways become unsightly and unsafe.
However, moss can obstruct the path of the water by absorbing the moisture instead of letting it drain away. Moss can break off and fall into gutters or downpipes, blocking your drainage system. If this issue is not spotted, it could potentially lead to parts of your drainage system requiring replacement.
If you notice stains, moisture, moss, mold, or any other abnormalities, it may be a sign of lurking foundation damage. The sooner you act, the more likely you are to prevent a serious issue.
When moss grows on bricks, it can cause a safety hazard by making the bricks slippery, as moss retains water. It can also mark the brick and leave a permanent unsightly stain. It can cost a lot of money and effort to create an aesthetically pleasing garden, so you naturally don't want an intrusion of moss to ruin that.
So let's explain why moss is dangerous for your brickwork. Moss roots can grow underneath your bricks. This is a major problem because even if you remove the top-level moss, the roots are already in place. They'll cause moss to re-grow and cause the mortar to crack.
Vinegar or bleach are two easy to find cleaning solutions that kill moss so that you can wash it away. You will want to mix either bleach or vinegar with water in a 1 to 1 ratio. The 50/50 mixture of water and bleach/vinegar is gentle enough to clean brick and works well against moss.
Vinegar is cost-efficient and safely kills moss because it contains acetic acid. Even a simple distilled white vinegar is effective. Combine 1 tbsp. of distilled white vinegar with 1 gallon of cold water.
You can mix either gentle dish soap or baking soda with lukewarm water to create an effective DIY herbicide that will kill moss. If you are using soap, mix 2-4 ounces with two gallons of water. For the baking soda method, mix 2 gallons of water with a small box of baking soda, the sort they sell for fridge deodorizing.
Bleach is the best solution to remove moss from the driveway. You just need to make sure you use the chemical carefully because it can stain the pavement or kill the surrounding plants. Mix about 20 ounces of bleach with 5 gallons of water and pour the mixture into a backpack or garden sprayer.
Consider an herbicidal soap or a chemical treatment, such as ammonium sulfamate and sodium pentachlorophenate, as another option to control moss growth. Be sure to follow all instructions on the product label if you opt to use these products.
Applying a sealer to your pavement areas significantly slows down moss growth and keeps your pathways looking cleaner for longer. Moss can only grow when dirt spores gather in the nooks and crannies in concrete. Moisture is then able to get trapped in the dirt spores for long enough periods for moss to grow.
The best way to control moss on your pavers is to keep them clean, dry, and wash them several times a season. You can treat them regularly with a 10-15% bleach solution as a preventative measure. Although sealing your pavers will not prevent moss, it can limit the amount of moisture in the pavers and joints.
Moss's Effects. On your house, moss is bad for any building material, because it draws food from that material, breaking down its colour first, and etching progressively more deeply into the product. Worse still, it provides cover for fungus, which is much more destructive. Fungus is a powerful decomposer.
The Benefits of Moss
Moss is low-growing and will form a dense mat on a lawn. It can provide you with a lush natural green carpet that rivals any turf grass. And it can survive where grass often can't—namely in shady spots. Thus, if you allow moss to grow, you'll be able to fill in unsightly bare spots on your lawn.
Preventing the future growth of moss on your driveway may be as simple as sprinkling baking soda over the area after cleaning off existing plants or thinning down surrounding trees to avoid shade.
Vinegar. A vinegar and water mixture is a great combination for treating and killing moss. Anytime you use an eco-friendly solution, this is a great way to kill and keep moss away. Be sure to scrub the area or use a pressure washer to remove any moss from the brick.
Bricks. The acid content in vinegar is particularly good at breaking down the molecules in clay surfaces. Standard bricks are made mostly from clay, so exposure to undiluted vinegar will quickly result in discolouration and a sticky chemical byproduct coating your bricks.
Moss is a non-vascular, rootless plant that converts sunlight, through the process of photosynthesis, and absorbs minerals from the soil to survive, grow and reproduce. Mold, on the other hand, is a fungus. It is distantly related to the mushroom family, but it is classed as neither plant nor animal.
Disadvantages of moss walls
Unlike living walls, moss walls do not act as a cleaner of the air in the surrounding space. As “moss walls” are created using a preserved process to enable it to last for many years without the need for water these green walls are not able to be used in exterior spaces.
Moss of all kinds can be used for growing on hard surfaces like stones and concrete.
Therefore, during low-humidity times of the year, moss walls can help your indoor spaces to maintain humidity levels that don't promote the spread of disease. But moss takes disease prevention one step further as well. It also serves to clean the disease particles that are already floating around in the air.