Topsoil over moss?

[Wally]

I had a few trees removed after the last ice storm pulled them down. It's amazing to see tree roots hold rocks. Anyway, the area will need a few inches of topsoil to even things out. There was some heavy moss where the trees were shading. Is it ok to cover the moss with the soil and sow seed, or treat/rake the moss first?

[andy10917]

While it's always best not to leave horizons (layers) in the soil, the moss will decay pretty quickly if you put down 3" of topsoil in the wet months of Spring. You will most likely get away with ignoring the moss, and it turns into organic matter. Scratch it up a little to break up the layering and move on.

[turf_toes]

You’ll want to do more than even out the soil. In a year’s time, you’ll have a depression in the area where the tree was if you don’t pile the soil a little higher than the surrounding soil.