MOVING MOSS

The Fall , for me, is the best time to establish a moss garden. As the temperature drops the mists and moisture rise from the ground. Leaves falling cover bare earth spots where you harvest.  Above was the mossy " slippery when wet " state of a stone path. So it was time to clean, restore and harvest the moss for a new moss pathway. Resident toads have found their winter hibernating homes in other places in the garden so I'm hoping they stay burrowed while I scrape and clean the stone surface. 

I have somewhat of a moss farm right in front of my house.  After 4-5 years a 40' long stone path and terrace on the North East side of the house is over 1/2 covered in moss. This will be the fourth harvesting of moss from this area  in the 20 years since the stone walk and terrace were built. 

A trusty spatula easily lifted the moss that was placed in alternate upside down stacks in a flat cart for transporting to its new location. 

Out came the brush broom and a combination of bleach and an enzyme cleaner.  

The sudsy mix looked like a waterfall. It stayed on the surface for an hour. I did this twice while I laid the new moss path. 

I raked away the mulch and debris down to the parent soil where I wanted the path;  watered the heck out of the path to make  a cushy sometimes muddy base.

Then I began placing the moss pieces. Once the path was full of moss I watered again and foot tamped it down. I always love this part. Besides being finished with bending over I feel like a kid again with no cares in the would except sloshing about in a puddle. I was careful not to kick the moss out of place as I sloshed all over it.  

The path looks a little lumpy but the moss will knit into place by springtime. 

WARNING: If you are in a healthy woodland filled with creatures of the night .... Protect the moss with a wire mesh of some type pinned over the moss so the those little brats don't tear it up trying to find bugs and grubs for their midnight snack. 

Three hours later I had a new moss path and a safe and cleaned stone walk. (Somewhat sterile looking, I admit) but, I won't have to wait long for the moss to re-cover the path again. 

What better reason to clean off a stone path than to have company coming to visit. I don't want to take any chances if them slipping and falling.  Isn't that when we get our houses the cleanest? No more ROCKS SLIPPERY WHEN WET!!!

MOSS GARDEN MOMENTS

Having multiple moss gardens in my woodland is one of the greatest joys of living here. I can't tell you how many clients living in woodlands over the years have expressed a yearning for large areas of green to look at in their landscape.  When they are living in a forest they question the inability to grow grass and usually have struggled for years trying to grow a patch of lawn in the shade. Certainly there are some grassy looking ground covers that will emulate the look of a lawn (Dwarf Mondo Grass and low creeping Carex comes to mind) but why not use mosses tolerant of your site to give you that calming space in the garden? 

No fertilizer required and a gentle sweeping and weeding are the only thing necessary to keep it beautiful.  If it is too dry,  Irrigation pop up sprayers can be fitted out to keep the area in sufficient moisture. 

Moss gardens thrive in our garden because of the moist terrain and the close to 100 year old trees shading the entire property.  I was told by the farmer who originally owned  our 3+ acres within the 30 surrounding us that underground springs on this property are the source of keeping the lake levels up behind our house. he was told when building the 5acre lake that the roots of the magnificent trees here filter the water before it reaches the lake and to not cut them down. 

                  Crocus thomasiniana

The soil type here is one more piece of the puzzle that helps the moss to thrive. It is Triassic Basin Soil.  An acidic sandy soil layer over mucky anaerobic clay is constantly wicking up moisture from the below ground springs.  (Moss also grows well on red clay soil which is more common in this area of the Piedmont of NC.) I was told that a million years ago our property was at the edge of a giant lake. Now we are in a watershed for a man made lake 10 miles away. 

Moss is also growing on these hardened bags of concrete (alkaline) that I put in place for steps three years ago. 

Moss naturally appeared on the garden paths when I consistently cleared the leaves off to demonstrate the sandy soil. It also took off after removing a pile of backfill dirt for an addition to the house we put on in 1995. 

I have harvested moss from my stone patio for client gardens and to expand my own mossy garden spaces. Using a wide metal spatula to loosen the moss in dinner plate sized patches I can have an almost instant moss garden or path. I wait about three years between liftings and then I prepare my new area by raking down to bare soil; wetting down the soil to make it muddy and finally laying down the patches of moss as closely together as I can and press those patches into the wet soil. My soil base is so hard that I can actually stamp on it with my feet to get it in good contact with the base.  It then fills in as a carpet within a year. 

If you have shade, acidic, compacted, infertile soil; a moist ecosystem and see moss growing naturally I would encourage you to try moss gardening. Look up "Japanese Moss Gardens" and see some of the most beautiful and oldest manmade moss gardens in the world. Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island in the state of Washington has an entry moss garden taking advantage the iconic tree stumps that designer Richard Haag calls 'Monuments' of the moss garden.