Little Eden Nature Reserve & Hostel, 605 Gardiner Rd., RR3 North Augusta, Ontario, Canada, K0G1R0

Gardeners tell me they find it difficult to grow flowers or grass under mature trees, especially Norway Maple, but the shade is an ideal spot to begin a little moss garden.

Five steps to get started:

1. On your hikes or field trips, collect clumps of forest moss, especially types that grow in forest shade.
2. Place the clumps side by side on the bare ground or on stone, rotted logs etc. and water them in dry periods. Eventually, the clumps grow together making an undulating carpet.
3. Keep children and dogs off the moss bed as it is unrooted and delicate and will not tolerate much abuse.
4. Weed the moss bed of all other plant seedlings and remove fallen leaves by hand not with a rake. Stepping or sitting stones help with the weeding, and you can select beautiful ones on your travels.
5. The stones can be painted with a bit of spoiled milk or the protein residue from an egg shell, as this promotes the growth of colourful moss and algae, and it helps to age the appearance of the stone. Mosses that grow on acidic stones, such as granite differ from those alkaline stones like limestone, gypsum, or serpentine, and mosses come in many colours other than green, including black, orange, reddish, brown, and whitish.

Newfoundland & Labrador has a small human population and enormous areas of forest moss, so do not feel environmental angst when collecting a few clumps of moss in the wild. You will be making new habitat. There are many types of moss to learn about: the Hypnums, sun-loving Polytrichum and Dicranum, as well as the Rhacomitrium from humid barrens, and the Hylocomium and Pleurozium from the deep forest. You can start small with a beautiful ceramic or stone bowl indoors or out, creating a Zen garden in minature. Good luck with this interesting branch of natural history gardening.

Copyright Robin T. Day July 14, 2008