Peat Moss Benefits and How to Use Peat Moss in Your Landscaping

The term peat moss often conjures images of dense, wet bogs in Ireland, Scotland, and Canada. You might be surprised, however, to learn that peat moss is a common soil amendment and is often used in both hydroponics and everyday landscaping in the United States. Maybe your landscaper has recommended adding peat moss to your garden or lawn and you’re curious about peat moss benefits.

In this article, we’ll dive into the bogs to help you learn the main uses for peat moss and how you can use peat moss for your lawn.

Want to know if peat moss can enhance your landscape? Contact us at The Grounds Guys® to find out how peat moss benefits lawns like yours.

What Is Peat Moss?

What is peat moss good for? Before we can answer that question, it helps to understand what the substance actually is — or isn’t. Peat moss isn’t a specific type of moss or a plant of any kind. Instead, it is a partially decomposed accumulation of plant material that forms in peat bogs or peatlands over thousands of years.

Peat moss is typically composed of mosses, sedges, shrubs, and other vegetation that grows in wetland areas. It’s mostly made up of sphagnum moss and may even sometimes be incorrectly referred to as sphagnum moss. The two terms are related but different. Sphagnum is a specific, living moss. Peat moss is not alive.

While peat moss can evoke romantic visions of Irish and Scottish bogs, most peat moss in the United States is harvested in the peatlands of Canada.

Uses for Peat Moss in Landscaping

Thick blocks of decomposed organic material can do wonders for weak soil, hungry seedlings, and new lawns alike.

Soil Amendment

One of the most popular uses for peat moss is as a soil amendment, meaning it can improve the health of the soil. In particular, the spongy texture of peat moss can loosen dense soils, improve aeration, and help soil retain more moisture.

Seed Starting

Peat moss is sterile, lightweight, and great at holding onto moisture, which makes it an excellent ingredient in seed-starting mixes. If you’re looking to start a new garden of flowers, herbs, or vegetables, a peat moss mix could set up your seedlings for success.

Lawn Establishment

Much like new gardens, new lawns need a little help getting established. The same features that make peat moss so useful in boosting garden plants also make it a great medium for aiding the germination of grass seeds.

Mulching

Peat moss can also serve as a good mulch in garden beds and around trees. Its ability to suppress weeds, moderate soil temperatures, and retain moisture can keep plants strong and healthy.

Peat Moss Benefits

Should you consider using peat moss for your lawn? Here are some of the primary benefits of mixing a little peat into your soil.

It Retains Water

The spongy, fibrous texture of peat moss makes it superb at absorbing and retaining water. This ability can help keep the soil moist and plant roots hydrated. Using peat moss may allow you to lower the amount you need to water your garden or lawn and may be useful during periods of drought.

Provides Acidity

Peat moss is highly acidic, with a pH around 3.0 – 4.0. Certain plants love acidity, including the following:

• Azaleas
• Camellias
• Hydrangeas
• Irises
• Dogwood trees

Mixing some peat moss into the soil can help these plants thrive. It can also be beneficial to add peat moss to soil that is too alkaline and needs a better pH balance.

Complete Sterility

Peat moss is fully sterilized before it is packaged and sold, meaning you won’t have to worry about introducing bacteria, fungi, or weeds into your lawn or garden. The sterility of peat moss also ensures that it is a clean growing medium for vulnerable seedlings.

Holds Nutrients

The same characteristics that allow peat moss to absorb water also help it hold on to the nutrients you add to your soil. Peat moss does not provide nutrients to your soil and plants, but when you fertilize your lawn or garden, the peat moss in the soil can help ensure the fertilizer doesn’t quickly wash away.

Lightweight

Hauling around bags of soil can be physically challenging, especially if you are planning a big gardening or lawn project. Peat moss is very light, making it easy to work with whether you want to amend your soil or make potting mixes.

Is Peat Moss Right for You?

In this article, we’ve reviewed the uses of peat moss and highlighted several peat moss benefits. Does that mean we recommend peat moss for everyone? Not necessarily. Peat moss is just one option among many soil amendments that can help support a healthy, thriving lawn and garden. It is a non-renewable resource and is often more expensive than other alternatives, like compost, coconut coir, and pine bark.

Turn to a lawn care professional to weigh the benefits of peat moss against other options for your landscape. At The Grounds Guys, we would be happy to assess your lawn and garden and put together a personalized care plan that’s right for you. Providing the best customer service possible is all part of our Neighborly Done Right Promise™.

Have more questions about peat moss or need help caring for your lawn? Find your local The Grounds Guys and request a free estimate.

FAQs About How to Use Peat Moss

As an industry leader, The Grounds Guys are committed to using our 20+ years of landscape knowledge and experience to help bring the vision for their property to life. This includes answering your questions about landscape and lawn care services. Below are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about how to use peat moss.

What’s the difference between peat moss and sphagnum moss?

The key difference between peat moss and sphagnum moss is whether the material is living or decomposed. Sphagnum moss is a living plant that grows in wetland environments, particularly in bogs and marshes. You can harvest fresh sphagnum moss and use it immediately for applications like lining hanging baskets or creating natural plant arrangements.

Peat moss, on the other hand, forms over thousands of years as sphagnum moss and other bog plants decompose in waterlogged, oxygen-poor conditions. This decomposition process creates the brown, fibrous material that gardeners purchase in compressed bales at garden centers.

While both materials excel at moisture retention, they serve different purposes in landscaping. Fresh sphagnum moss works well for decorative applications and specialized growing mediums for orchids or carnivorous plants. Peat moss functions better as a soil amendment because its decomposed structure mixes more readily with existing soil.

Harvesting locations also differ significantly. Most commercial peat moss sold in the United States comes from Canadian peatlands, where it's sustainably harvested from bogs that have accumulated organic matter for millennia. Sphagnum moss can be harvested from various wetland areas and regenerates much more quickly than peat formation occurs.

Both materials are naturally sterile and won't introduce harmful bacteria or fungi to your garden, but peat moss offers superior nutrient-holding capacity due to its more complex decomposed structure.

Does peat moss improve soil quality?

Peat moss transforms soil structure through its unique spongy, fibrous texture that can absorb up to 20 times its weight in water. This exceptional absorption capacity means your soil stays moist longer between watering sessions, reducing both water usage and plant stress during dry periods.

In clay soils, peat moss acts like many tiny sponges that create air pockets, improving drainage and preventing root rot while maintaining adequate moisture levels. In sandy soils, it fills the gaps between sand particles, dramatically increasing the soil's ability to hold water and nutrients that would otherwise drain away too quickly.

When peat moss absorbs moisture, it helps maintain consistent soil temperature while creating a more stable environment for beneficial soil microorganisms. This stability supports stronger root development and better nutrient uptake in both established plants and new seedlings.

Additionally, peat moss helps prevent fertilizer runoff by binding to nutrients in the soil. When you apply fertilizer to peat-amended soil, the organic matter captures and slowly releases nutrients to plant roots over time, rather than allowing them to wash away with the first heavy rain.

Can I use peat moss as mulch?

We don’t recommend using peat moss as your sole mulching material. Peat moss can easily blow away, and unlike mulch, it doesn’t add nutrients to the soil when it breaks down. However, peat moss is effective at moderating soil temperature fluctuations. If you’d like to use peat moss as mulch, consider mixing it with other mulching materials rather than using it alone.

Is topsoil better than peat moss?

Topsoil is an excellent nutrient-rich option for landscaping and filling spaces. Peat moss benefits soil by retaining moisture and is excellent for plants that grow well in acidic soil. Which is best depends on the specific needs of your lawn; consult a landscaping professional for an expert recommendation.

This article is intended for general informational purposes only and may not be applicable to every situation. You are responsible for determining the proper course of action for your home and property. The Grounds Guys are not responsible for any damages that occur as a result of this blog content or your actions. For the most accurate guidance, contact The Grounds Guys location nearest you for a comprehensive, on-site assessment.