Does a lot of moss make a lawn squelchy??

[Mueslibox]

Just viewed a house with amazing garden, prob over a third of an acre... apple trees, veg patch, the works... but walking around the sloping site (down towards sea, but not right beside sea, another couple of acres between property and sea) the grass was very squelchy. It’s Ireland but been lovely weather this week and our current lawn okay in comparison. Squelchy lawn FULL of moss though... would that be it? Want to buy the house for kids to run around so if the lawns constantly sodden there’s no point.

If the lawn is waterlogged it is very likely to be a combination of moss and poor drainage. It shouldn’t be a deal-breaker if you like the house though; get the kids to spike the lawn to improve the drainage.

Moss tends to grow on damp lawns, rather than the other way round. I love a mossy lawn though. Much more beautiful than grass.

I'very got a mossy lawn. I bounce as I walk across it.

If the lawn faces north, or is overshadowed by trees etc, the moss will thrive. It loves damp shady places. If the lawn gets plenty of sun, then the problem will be poor drainage, or a heavy clay soil that retains the water. The current owners may also not be regularly scarifying the lawn, to rake out the moss and dead grass.
Moss does give a lovely cushiony texture to a lawn, but if your kids want to play ball games on the lawn, you'd be better getting the moss out, as grass is harder wearing.

We bought a house with leylandii hedges and our garden was horribly mossy and squelchy. We took the trees out which improved the lawn massively.

It does have some trees around it but def in sunshine. Yeah, I love moss generally too, but think this one needs a good rake. Lawn in house above it seemed perfectly fine, doesn’t tend to be clay here in Ireland although very damp of course!

As its sloping, installing drains shouldn't be too difficult. May be party, of course, given that you're in Ireland.

PEATY!

What Vix said.

The moss is there because the ground is squelchy, i.e. wet, not the other way around.

Haha, PEATY to you too. What kind of thing would be involved in draining the ground?

Digging a herringbone or grid type set of trenches following the fall of the land. Laying plastic perforated pipe and filling to 2/3 of the way up the trench wall with a rounded aggregate, ie not a sedimentary rock. Cover back over with a free draining soil/sand mix and sow grass seed. Not difficult,but physically quite hard if you plan to do the job by hand.