As the snows melt away and the forest floor comes to life, it’s the mosses that make everything look so green.  Moss is a truly global plant, its microscopic spores rising high into the atmosphere to travel around the world before they settle.  So the moss growing on the north sideyard of your house and that of the forests in China may be virtually identical species. 

Moss is quite transplantable because its roots are so shallow.  You can peel it up from dense clay, a tree trunk or from the surface of large boulders with your fingers.  These slabs, if kept moist and not crushed will transplant easily into your garden.  They are perfect for making the shaded nooks and crannies of a rock waterfall look eons old, provided you do not chlorinate the water.  It also disguises the man made the edges of a naturalistic water garden.  You can also cover ground in a Japanese garden to give it the patina so coveted for that style.

Try to match the exposure of the new location to that of the site where you harvested the moss.  It will require some degree of shade and consistent moisture to survive.  If the new surface is sterile, paint fresh fish emulsion on like an organic glue to hold the moss slab in place and give it nutrients.  Mist the moss daily to prevent dehydration until its established.

If you don’t have a local source for moss, you can buy it online at Moss Acres  http://www.mossacres.com/ 

Check out the Moss Acres Photo Gallery for great ideas on where and how to use mosses to make your garden appear old and established even if it’s brand new.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 at 8:39 am and is filed under Environment, People, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.