Moss can be super pretty, in the right places. It lends a certain whimsy to rocks at the edge of a riverbed, or hanging from trees in the deep south.

When it comes to places like your driveway, where cracks and crevices are unwanted, though, most people want to banish it for good.

It turns out that baking soda is just the handy (and non-toxic!) product that can help.

Baking soda is also cheap, easy to apply, and super effective, so there’s really no reason not to give it a try.

First, you’ll want to hose down the mossy area, soaking cracks in the pavement or space between bricks. You’ll want to let it soak in for two to three hours, so it’s best to do this on an already wet or dreary day; if it’s sunny and hot, the water will evaporate too quickly.

You need the area to be wet so that the baking soda sticks to the moss and allows it to penetrate the cracks.

If you’re using the baking soda as a powder, you’ll sprinkle it right onto the moss and let it sit there for several days. Once the moss turns brown you can scrape it off and sweep it away before giving the area one final rinse.

You can also carry out the above regimen with a paste, which is just mixing baking soda with water and then spreading it over the moss. You might want to go this route if you have a smaller area to cover, or a particularly stubborn patch you’re really focused on exorcising.

You can also make a spray by combining 1 cup of baking soda and 1 gallon of water in a garden sprayer to spray the areas. Check back after a few weeks and spray again as necessary – and keep in mind you have to keep this up for a couple of months until it’s all gone.

It sounds as if this process is as easy as pie.

You’ve just got to have a little patience.