Moss gardening

I have long been fascinated by mosses and adored them on our visits to Japanese gardens. Planting my clover patch this past summer was an attempt to capture that feeling. 

Now I'm looking into how mosses could occupy more space in my backyard garden. Maybe I'll start with a small patch by the bonsai, maybe a container that comes inside for the winter.

Annie Martin's book Magical World of Moss Gardening is filled with inspiration and great advice on how to get started, and Joe Gardener offers a podcast with her as a guest. 

There is also the book Gathering Moss: a natural and cultural history of mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer. A great interview with the author about her book on these green beings.5x15 stories.

Mosses are still active under the snow and can keep photosynthesizing through the winter. They were one of the first plant forms on earth. They are miniature forests and undulating coral wreaths.

Rose Moss

I am looking for moss bryophytes native to Ontario and will start in the spring by identifying mosses already present in my own backyard. I've been coaxing them along between the river stone cracks and will move other existing colonies from perimeter and fringe areas to a focal point or two.

I came across some great sites to help with identifying: Mosses of Ontario · iNaturalist Canada as well as Mosses Ontario Field Naturalists. Rose Moss/Rhodobryum Ontariense is native to Ontario and might be lurking somewhere. If not, I may be able to source at the local Moss factory.

So much to explore in this topic!

Indoor moss gardens

Moss Art walls