It’s green; it’s slimy; it’s slippery. It’s growing on your lawn, your patio, your steps and walkways-even your roof and siding. If you’ve ever lived through several humid or wet days, you probably have had to deal with moss or algae.
“Dampness combined with heavy shade and poor air circulation are the ingredients that create moss and algae,” says Bayer Advanced™ Garden Expert Lance Walheim, who wrote the book “Lawn Care for Dummies” and is a regular contributor to Sunset magazine. “They make your house look dirty and on your patio, it’s easy for children or the elderly to slip and fall.”
Pruning trees to increase sunlight can help prevent moss and algae over the long run. Adjusting the pH of your soil can help reduce the green slime in your lawn. You can also spend a few hundred dollars a year to have the exterior of your home cleaned.
In the past, if you wanted to get rid of that nasty green stuff, the do-it-yourself approach required a scrub brush and a bucket of water mixed with bleach.
“Mixing bleach is always a challenge,” says Walheim. “You have...