Are trees always displayed with moss?

[JoeWilson]

Earlier this year, I was advised to find moss that grows in sun for my trees that need sun, and find moss that grows in shade for trees that need more shade. For this reason, I tried only 2 types of moss I found on my property that both grew in sun.

I did try to grow a tray of moss a couple years ago. It grew well at first, but then died. It was in 95% shade. I will definitely try again though. When I did it the first time, I basically just put chunks of moss onto garden soil. I didn't actually blend it up with sphagnum.

It sounds like you were growing moss that wanted sun and gave it too much shade. Moss doesn't need to be babied or gradually introduced to sunlight like saplings do. If it's a moss that grows in sun, keep it in sun, or it will die. Moss generally has a range it can tolerate, so you can typically take full-sun tolerant moss and it put it into part sun, and sometimes vice-versa, but it won't be happy going to full shade.

You absolutely can get chunks of moss to grow in garden soil. If you have crummy, clay-heavy soil, even better.

 

[Wulfskaar]

Collected moss usually dies because it's taken from an environment where it's happy, and moved to an environment where it doesn't want to be. Not the right amount of water, light, or both. If you can replicate its conditions, it tends to transplant very well. There is not much you need to do with it when you move it; you can usually pinch a clump and put it in a ziplock bag or even in a jacket pocket. Just make sure you keep it from getting too dry when you move it, though some species can get extremely dry without dying. The main thing is selecting a type of moss that wants to be where you're putting it, so think about the conditions your tree needs, and try to match the moss species to the tree. And then make sure that the soil is nice and mucky when you transplant it. You can use fines to make a little mucky mixture to glue it onto your substrate. Some people use netting to keep birds from taking it, the wind from blowing it off, etc, too. Keeping it stuck down while it gets established is important. So don't be afraid to smash it down occasionally, especially right after it goes in.

PS: I don't do any of this grinding up business. This can work but is the slowest way to propagate moss. It's great if you need to fill a wide area and have limited moss to start with, but otherwise, start with nice, big chunks and let them get bigger. Moss has multiple stages of life, and grinding it up effectively kicks it back a couple of stages. Grinding basically puts it back into the pore stage. Leave some space between the clumps, and it will spread pores all on its own and fill in.

When collecting moss in my yard, the most common type is so thin that I pretty much have to scrape it off the ground with some dirt attached. Do you wash off the dirt or place it on a bonsai with dirt still attached?

The moss I'm grabbing is collected about 15-20 feet from where the pots sit, so there's no climate difference whatsoever.

I do have another type of moss that's a bit more shaggy, and it can be pulled up with my fingers. I will try to find more of it this winter. I just noticed a couple patches of it are still green on a couple of my trees.

 

[JoeWilson]

When collecting moss in my yard, the most common type is so thin that I pretty much have to scrape it off the ground with some dirt attached. Do you wash off the dirt or place it on a bonsai with dirt still attached?

The moss I'm grabbing is collected about 15-20 feet from where the pots sit, so there's no climate difference whatsoever.

I do have another type of moss that's a bit more shaggy, and it can be pulled up with my fingers. I will try to find more of it this winter. I just noticed a couple patches of it are still green on a couple of my trees.

Yes, you want to pull it up with some of the dirt or whatever substrate it is growing on. If you can get the dirt to stick to the substrate in your pot, you should have decent luck. Try using a fork to lever it up with some dirt.

Moss typically wants very specific conditions. I'm not sure what your property is like, but 20 feet in any direction in my yard represents many different microclimates, some where moss is happy, others where moss would never live. Back in Iowa, where I could grow many more species, I would transition from one type to another for my moss beds. This might mean moving a few feet down a path would change from one species to another, depending on the light and moisture levels.

Moss is a colonizing species. Which means it’s often the first plant to show up on bare earth. But it doesn’t handle competition or changes in conditions very well. For example, a small tree showing up and shading it out can make some species unhappy. Leaves left on it can kill it pretty quickly. And so forth.

 

[Wulfskaar]

Yes, you want to pull it up with some of the dirt or whatever substrate it is growing on. If you can get the dirt to stick to the substrate in your pot, you should have decent luck. Try using a fork to lever it up with some dirt.

Moss typically wants very specific conditions. I'm not sure what your property is like, but 20 feet in any direction in my yard represents many different microclimates, some where moss is happy, others where moss would never live. Back in Iowa, where I could grow many more species, I would transition from one type to another for my moss beds. This might mean moving a few feet down a path would change from one species to another, depending on the light and moisture levels.

Moss is a colonizing species. Which means it’s often the first plant to show up on bare earth. But it doesn’t handle competition or changes in conditions very well. For example, a small tree showing up and shading it out can make some species unhappy. Leaves left on it can kill it pretty quickly. And so forth.

Thanks, Joe. Very useful information. I think I just need to keep trying and find what works.

I did see you were growing some moss in trays, so I look forward to seeing how that goes.

 

[JoeWilson]

Thanks, Joe. Very useful information. I think I just need to keep trying and find what works.

I did see you were growing some moss in trays, so I look forward to seeing how that goes.

Happy to help, moss is my one true love. And yeah, if it hasn't worked so far, keep trying. Try multiple species in trays or on the same tree as well, more chances for success that way if you're not quite sure which one is best to use.

The moss I'm growing inside is doing well. I just transferred another tray of fragments inside to free up room on the misting bench. Here are some photos:


Here are the new fragments hanging out with the cliff spurge.


Moss bowl with bahama berry (just pruned him back hard).


Here's a close-up of one of my trays. See where it's dark green/blackish near the bottom and kind of looks like algae? Those are all the pores starting to colonize. I pulled these from the patio pavers about two months ago, to give you an idea of the rate of growth for Bryum species. Bryums are relatively slow growers; some species will take off faster than this if the conditions are right.


This tray is a little further along, getting close to the size of clumps I would put on a young tree to develop further. 2-3" clumps or so tend to do well in my experience.


These clumps were installed with the Kinnickinnick about two months ago.


They look like this today, starting to plump up and fill out nicely.


And a more mature moss bed growing with a couple of bristlecone pines. The bigger one is a niwaki project, and the little guy will go in a pot someday. Even with pretty good conditions, this bed struggles every year. Especially when we get our dry Denver winters, and it's too cold to go out and water them. I'm gonna try to do a better job of watering it this year. I've got a lot more trees now that I'll be out looking after, so that should give me extra motivation.