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Moss Gardening

The simplest method of moss gardening is the creation of a moss carpet.
Author Jeff HalperThis is an excellent way to beautify the earth under a heavy canopy of tree limbs. Many Houston homes have very large trees in the back yard. This is especially true for homes near Buffalo Bayou. Tall oaks, pines, and many non-indigenous transplants often shade a significant portion of the yard, making it difficult to grow flowering plants.

Covering the ground with moss will create a lush, green carpet that makes an otherwise dead area vibrant. Mosses can be more than bright green. They can be any color of the rainbow, so you can achieve the same results in terms of color that you would with many flower beds.

Some homeowners so fall in love with such a setting that they have us build a small patio for two in the midst of the verdant color. The patio can even partly consist of moss if so desired. Alternating stone blocks are laid flat on the ground like a jagged checkerboard. The empty squares are then planted with moss, which grows to create an alternating organic, inorganic pattern that brings tranquility to the senses.

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Moss gardening is also very popular in Japan. If Asian décor is your preference, much can be done in your backyard using these simple plants as the stock organic material.
One design that is very popular is a courtyard covered in moss. Such a courtyard is usually built from stone. Walls and patio space are deliberately overgrown with moss. This makes the structure look very old, and almost shrine like, in its significance.

Other vegetation can then be added to give the courtyard vertical impact. Small bushes, flowering plants, and special grasses can create a full spectrum of greens ranging from lime to almost blackish green in color.

If you have a large patio behind your home, consider the benefits of Bonzai moss gardening.
Bonzai trees are easy to grow in small containers. As such, they are ideal for terraces and patios. While Bonzai trees are a beautiful novelty in their own right, they look even more realistic when surrounded by various species of moss that imitate the many bushes that are typically found growing under large trees. Everything from meadow grasses to shrubs can be imitated by carefully selected species of moss.

If you have a small home characterized by a definitively Old World Moss style, moss gardening with walls and roofs is an excellent way to embellish the architecture of your house.
We often associate very old buildings in Europe with buildings covered in ivy and moss. This association lends well to making newer homes look more formal in the traditional Old World motif. Moss helps landscape architecture better blend with nature. It provides an ideal compliment to stonework, so any retaining wall or entry garden is a good candidate for moss planting.

Roofs of arbors can pergolas are other places where moss gardening can create the look and feel of a centuries old retreat where the bustle of modern life fades away, distant, and far removed.