Moss, mostly

Inspired by the ever wonderful Martha Stewart (who shall be henceforth, in this post and in all future, be referred to simply as Martha) and the special feature on her TV show last May, I have started a Moss Wall. Martha’s bit was about growing moss intentionally in various places in the garden and using it purely as plant accessory. The New York Times, of course, soon followed suit with their own fabulous full-page story on moss gardens, coincidentally, focusing on moss in eastern Pennsylvania.
Lovely.

When I lived in Brooklyn I had a stone patio in place of a backyard; now that I live in South Philly, the great wasteland of cheese steaks, sidewalk lawn chairs and cracked cement as far as the eye can see, I’ve kind the same deal here. The beauty of moss? It’ll grow anywhere, and many kinds love rock or pavement. The idea clicked, and I am now trying to cover my grey back “yard” into a moss jungle.

There are two methods of getting moss to grow where you want it. First, take some already growing clumps of native moss (you can find this on sidewalks, parks, empty lots, wherever) and hot glue them on to a rock or cement surface of your choice. Really. It looks like your pavement has the moss chicken pox for a while, but the moss will begin to spread itself over a couple weeks. The second method also involves beginning with native moss, and then, well, getting it drunk. The basic principal is pretty simple: moss likes to do it, and giving it a couple of beers totally makes it happen.

Mix in a blender on high speed: 2 cups of moss + 1 cup of water + 1 can of beer (I used Yuengling, keep it local, you know) + 1 tsp of sugar. Martha used Miracle grow in place of sugar, but I'd rather not go anywhere near that stuff. The yeast in the beer acts as a fertilizer and because it is live it encourages growth, thus arousing all the spores making reproduction seem like a good idea (should I just go ahead and call this my Shag Carpet?). This mixture will be nice and gloppy, about the consistency of pancake batter, and should look opaque in the blender. Then pick your rock or patio or wall spot and simply paint on! Remember Chia Pets? Same idea, just think of your wall as a really, really big terracotta sheep.

I’m starting my moss wall using both methods, gluing on clumps and then painting over and around them on all three walls (not the wall of the house, don’t mess with that). I waited for a day after a heavy storm so moss I collected would be full and the wall would have a bit of residual dampness to it. I glued on about twelve small clumps, none larger than my palm, around the wall underneath and near the slight lip at the top. Then I painted my mixture on the upper third of the back wall, allowing for any drips or irregularities. Moss likes damp and shade, so I’m giving it a light spray with the hose everyday.

You probably have some moss growing in your backyard somewhere, so you should certainly start with trying to encourage that to grow and spread more. Using moss from your neighborhood is definitely preferable as the spores for those species are already in the air. Also, look for moss growing on similar rock or pavement as that which you are trying to grow on.

There are loads of other moss spreading mixtures, buttermilk or yogurt come up just as often. Unfortunately, this method does not allow for your moss to be straight edge and vegan, if that’s your thing, but hey if you find another alternative let me know! Maybe soy yogurt?

I’ve included some great links at the bottom, many of which have other moss + culture mixtures. Good luck! Have fun.

The Artistic Garden
Oregon State Botany dept. site
Heavy Petal: Moss Graffiti!
that last one is totally my favorite.


grow little green ones, grow!