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Now there are a couple of shoots of grass between the bed of moss...
I have been told this is the time of year to attack the moss and iron sulphate is the way to go...
where can I source this stuff locally?
or any other suggestions?

If you can't get it in garden centres then EBay or Amazon have it but if you really do have almost no grass then it may be better to start a new lawn from scratch using seed or turf depending on how soon you want a good law,

Lawn sand will soon have everything looking good and will kill the moss.

Our lawns the same. I was told its drainage though and even if I replaced the grass unless I sorted the basic problem , the moss would come back . I think if I put lawn sand on it now, Id be able to count the surviving blades of grass individually .

I thinks it's the same everywhere this year. I have the odd blade of grass that has popped up and spoilt the nice even bed of moss !!

It's all green so that'll do me.

I'm having to look at going the slabs route this year, tried grassing the mud swamp last year, but was very patchy and just wouldn't grow in certain areas. Then this black slippery slime like stuff started spreading and smothered a large patch about 1m squared.

Not quite sure what to do with it, I am not exactly 'green fingered', so it looks like slabs if I can't find a relatively cheap solution.

I'm of the opinion it is a drainage problem so I am considering going down the route of hiring a scarifier/aerator (as its quite a large lawn) for the day and applying either lawn sand or iron sulphate... would I apply the sand 1st or scarify 1st?

Scarify first although scarifying is best done at the end of the season rather than now. You will be amazed how much dead growth you will pick up. I really can't see lawn sand actually replacing grass to the extent you seem to need it.
Good advice from RHS here
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=422

Lawn sand is just sand containing iron sulphate to kill the moss (and usually some ammonium sulphate fertilizer). The mixture is used because using iron sulphate alone can be "tricky" ie you have to ensure it is applied very evenly. Diluted in sand makes that a bit easier.

You normally apply lawn sand first - leave a week and then rake out the dead moss. If you do that with a scarifier machine then the lawn will look very ragged until the grass regrows - so normally you only do the moss kill/ scarify once the grass is really starting to grow. It is still a bit early in my view. Give it another 3 weeks.

WHY there is so much moss around this year I really do not know. "Drainage" is said to be the way to prevent it. My lawn was built on a sand dune!!! If you dig into my lawn there is 2" decent soil, 3" more of poor soil and below that SAND - and I still get lots of moss

Snod

Loads of moss in mine too. At least a third of my lawn never gets sunlight even in mid summer. The other bit always ends up going yellow.

If you've got mostly moss and weeds then you might want to think about getting some turf and starting a new lawn. If it's worth saving then mow your lawn; take off just a cm or two. Next, aerate it using a garden fork. Dig it in every foot or so and see what it's like underneath. It's probably going to be very soft under the mossy areas. I'd apply a thin, even sprinkling of lawn sand every week then start raking it in about 3 weeks time.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

No point scarifying before killing off the moss, as Snodvan said you need to treat it first and then scarify to remove both dead moss and the "thatch" of dead grass cuttings that build up over time and will encourage the moss to re-grow. I'll be waiting another couple of weeks before doing mine, the lawn does need to be actively growing.

I use a combined mosskiller/weedkiller/lawnfeed to do 3 jobs in one go, this will give the grass a boost to help it recover from the raking. It will look really awful after raking, but after a week or two you could scatter some grass seed to give it a helping hand. But after the moss has gone the grass does come back quite well, once it's got some breathing space instead of being choked by the moss.

Brilliant, Thanks everybody for the input.
I'll be going down the lawn sand route I think.
I have also ordered some of those spiked overshoes to help with drainage so I'll start applying the lawnsand this week.
Anybody recommend where can I pick a large sack up local to Birkenhead/Oxton?

are forizo still going near green lane? Cut your grass first if highish, leave for 3 days or more before applying mosskiller (of whatever type) Moss will start to go black over a few days and needs to be watered in if using a granule moss killer. Scarify by going over the lawn several times. Rake any bare patches, sow seed and cover lightly with peat.
Did a large lawn last year and misread the dilution instructions the moss was going black before i had got half way across lawn. Thankfully the grass was ok--but the moss has still come back,

thanks Fish, seems they are still in the units at Holborn Square.. looking at info I found they sell iron sulphate and lawn sand in a range of quantities so I think I'll give them a bell this week and get cracking at it...
The way it keeps coming back is a total pain isn't it...
I made it my mission about 10 years ago to get it cleared but as soon as you think your done it comes back worse than ever..

I went to Holborne Square a week or so ago ALSO hoping to get iron sulphate. Forizos "gone/ finished" apparently and the place there now only sells hydroponics stuff

Snod