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Best lawn treatments: lawn feeds, weed and moss killers
If grass isn't the only thing growing on your lawn, you need feed that can
tackle moss and weeds – our guide reveals which lawn treatments we rated highest
If your lawn is relatively trouble-free, a standard lawn feed will help you keep it in good condition. However, if you're tackling a garden plagued with moss and weeds, you'll need a lawn treatment designed to tackle those issues. Our expert advice guide can help.
Whether you're struggling to control moss, weeds or both, there's a lawn treatment that can help, but they don't all do an excellent job. Some will work wonders for your grass (but not make a dent in the weeds and moss), while others do a better job at controlling weeds.
We've tested several lawn treatments from big-name garden brands, including Evergreen, Miracle-Gro and Scotts, to see which will keep your garden looking its best.
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Best lawn feeds
These feed the grass , which is all most lawns need to keep them looking good. If you want to feed the grass as well as kill moss or weeds, look further down for products that contain both or even all three.
Join Which? to get access to all our Best Buys and lawn treatment reviews. We’ve tested lawn treatments from brands including Miracle-Gro, Neudorff and Vitax, but only the very best make a Best Buy.
| Product | How it performed |
| This product improved turf quality and colour significantly, and gave very consistent improvement across the lawn. The grass greened up swiftly, showing good, healthy growth. | |
| This granular product needed to be applied every six to eight weeks but was easy to do so evenly by hand. The granules were a little irregular in shape and size, but they didn’t break up or become dusty. The product improved turf quality and colour significantly, keeping the lawn healthy and looking good. | |
| This was the best granular feed we tested. The quality of the turf improved significantly over the testing period and gave the grass a lovely deep-green colour. It needs to be applied every six weeks. | |
| This product is claimed to use organically sourced fertilisers and mycorrhizal fungi to encourage healthy growth in your lawn. Although not a Best Buy, it still made the lawn look great, improving turf quality and colour significantly. |
Best lawn weed killers
Some products are just weedkillers, while other contain lawn food too.
Join Which? to get access to all our Best Buys and lawn treatment reviews. We’ve tested lawn treatments from brands including Miracle-Gro, Neudorff and Vitax, but only the very best make a Best Buy.
| Product | How it performed |
| This was the best lawn weedkiller in the trial. The number of weeds in the lawn was halved seven days after the second application and the grass was left unharmed. This product was ready to use in a spray bottle and easy to apply, especially to target individual weeds or small patches. | |
| This product contains the same active weedkilling ingredients as Westland Resolva and gave very similar results. It reduced the weed content in our plots throughout the trial, spraying twice with a six-week interval, without causing any damage to the live grass. |
Best moss killers
Some of these products just contain moss killer, while other contain lawn food and/or weed killer.
Join Which? to get access to all our Best Buys and lawn treatment reviews. We’ve tested lawn treatments from brands including Miracle-Gro, Neudorff and Vitax, but only the very best make a Best Buy.
| Product | How it performed |
| This was the best product in this trial for effectively reducing moss in a lawn. Although the moss turned black after the first application, which wasn’t an attractive look, it didn’t need raking out. After the second application, which was carried out six weeks later, the grass greened up, leaving us with a great-looking lawn. | |
| This is a traditional treatment for mossy lawns and was one of the best products in this trial. The quality and colour of the grass was improved after the first application, and after a couple of treatments the moss was fully under control and significantly reduced across the lawn. |
Granular vs liquid lawn treatment: which is best for killing moss and weeds?
The type of product shouldn't make a difference to how well it handles weeds and moss. Typically, granular treatments are easier to spread over large areas than liquid ones, but a Best Buy liquid feed shouldn't have any advantages over a Best Buy granular one at controlling weeds and moss.
Which treatment does your lawn need?
Healthy grass is your best defence against the build-up of moss and weeds. Choose a Best Buy lawn feed to make sure your grass is fighting fit and ready to take on the mossy scourge.
If you're lucky enough to get only the odd weed, then dig them out or spray them with a Best Buy weed killer. If your garden is large then using a liquid lawn feed could be a real chore. Granular is usually easier to spread over larger areas, but liquid feed could be ideal for smaller plots. Typically, you'll need to reapply it every six to eight weeks to see results.
How to deal with moss
Moss thrives in the shade and you'll often find it growing under trees. Consider cutting back some of the lower branches, thinning the coverage and letting more light through. If it's compacted, pushing a garden fork into your turf every 15cm or so will get some much-needed air back into your grass. This will also help prevent moss.
You should regularly move heavy items around the garden, so the grass underneath can get a breather. And if you've been using moss killer then remember to rake away the dead moss. You'll need to seed the bare patches with more grass otherwise the moss could simply regrow. Help the new grass grow quicker by adding some top dressing to the bare patches.
For more details on tackling moss, take a look at our guide on moss control.
How to beat weeds without chemicals
If you'd rather not use chemicals on your lawn, you're going to need to get your hands dirty. Dig out the weeds, making sure to get as much of the root as possible. Re-sow the area with grass seed. The more grass you have the less likely weeds are to grow, so you can always overseed your lawn to thicken it. Rake up any debris on your lawn first then spread grass seed over your entire plot. If it doesn't rain then water the seed, too.
Why Which? lawn feed reviews are better
- We tested 48 lawn treatment products to see how good they were on a family lawn. We tried out 18 feeds, including those that contain a weedkiller. We also tried treatments that only tackle moss or lawn weeds.
- Each treatment was applied in line with the manufacturer’s instructions at the recommended intervals, and the grass was mown once a week.
- Our testers assessed the grass monthly, over five months, looking at the quality, colour and health of the turf. They also measured the proportion of weeds and live grass. For mossy areas, they measured the moss coverage at the start, and how much was killed by the treatment.
- They also assessed how easy the product was to use and apply, and whether it caused damage to the lawn.
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