Carpet Moss for your garden, as a living carpet, is an exceptional idea. Carpet Moss looks just like it sounds, a green living carpet. Carpet Moss has a velvety look; the belief is that it adds age, calm, and a sense of stillness to a garden. This moss is used in bonsai to attach a sense of age to the plant project. If you choose carpet moss for your garden, you can achieve this same sense of age and stillness.
What is Carpet Moss
Carpet moss is an evergreen, rootless plant that is a living carpet of golden-green in its youth; it turns dark green as it ages. Its leaves grow parallel to each other, and slim to a point at the end, though they are not sharp. All of these features make it a perfect green layer that draws the eye to the shape of the earth and adds dramatic flair to the unseen shaded portion of a garden.
There has been a lot of debate about how to class moss. It is in classification, in its division Bryophyta. In Bryophyta, there are 12,000 species.
Carpet Moss is any plant of the genus Hypnum of which there are 80 species. Twenty of those species occur in North America. This moss grows along stream beds in the forest and the bottoms of trees. Moss will grow year-round as long as the sun and moisture are available at the same time.
The terms Carpet Moss and Sheet Moss are often interchangeable even though they can be one of many species of moss.
Here's a post about hair cap moss for your garden, here's a post
Uses For Carpet Moss
Commercially moss is known because of peat moss. Uses for moss include decoration in the gardening and florist trades. Traditionally moss was used to soak up a large amount of water, to stuff bedding, and used as insulation. It was believed that carpet moss helped one sleep.
Using moss is adding layers of color to the brighten dark areas, and draw visitors to the garden to see the shaded places. Carpet Mosses also show the shape of the landscape instead of hiding it. Drawing the eye of the beholder to more than just the plants of a garden. It draws all the elements of a garden together plants, buildings, light, and dark, water, and soil. It is a finishing touch to a garden.
Where is Carpet Moss Grown
Carpet Moss is a versatile plant. It will grow indoors or outdoors, in sun or in shade. In gardens, as well as in lawns where grass won't grow, assuming it has ample moisture.
If growing indoors, the favored planting option is an indoor moss garden in a terrarium. A terrarium is a sealable glass container often used for fish tanks and indoor gardens, that will open for maintenance and watering. All the support Moss needs in a terrarium is a mist occasionally and about two hours of morning sunlight.
Plant Size
Carpet Moss is a small plant less than the size of an average adult palm. It spreads by spores and will cover an empty area, but they are slow-growing. It will not grow more than a couple inches tall. Some species grow upright, and others seem to grow in clumps.
Acrocarpos moss will grow upright, Pluerocapos moss will grow prostrate.
Growing Zones, and Planting Seasons
Carpet Moss is an evergreen plant which means that it will grow in all seasons and all zones. In zones that experience harsh winters, moss will not build a lot of growth in winter, but it will survive the winter and start growing again in spring. The growth rates will be affected by moisture levels, sunlight, and temperatures above 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Moss will grow in all types of soil; there is an exception. Moss does not grow well in sandy soil as it doesn't provide a stable environment. Mosses can grow in full shade as they are somewhat drought tolerant, but most moss prefers shade.
Moss has a love-hate relationship with water. It hates water because if there isn't anchor water runoff will wash the moss away before it has a chance to grow. These areas are where placing rock or pebble barriers, or netting over moss will help hold it in place till it establishes.
Moss loves the water because water helps it grow, and spread. When you are establishing moss, you will need to rake the soil, place the moss, and then water carefully and walk on the moss gently to help anchor it to the ground. Once the moss is anchored, it can be watered several times a day year-round to promote growth. Just remember it grows slowly, and gets discouraged by debris quickly.
How To Grow Carpet Moss
- Prepare the soil. Moss likes a very smooth growing surface. Rake away all leaves, and any unwanted plants.
- Rake the soil to loosen the top layer.
- Be aware of water runoff. It will wash away newly laid moss.
- Plant companion plants, before laying moss.
- Loosen soil slightly to aid in moss making good soil contact.
- Lay moss, and walk on gently or press gently to ensure contact with the earth.
- Pin, net, or place rocks in water run-off areas to prevent washout, while the moss gets established.
- Water several times a day to encourage growth. Water levels for different types of mosses are found here.
- Because moss takes time to establish, and anchor, you will need to keep the area of growth clean from weeds and debris while the moss fills in.
Carpet Moss Photo Gallery
Vibrant and Green
Carpet Moss is a lovely golden green when young, and matures into a dark green as it ages. It makes for a beautiful green layer to catch the viewer's eye.
Soft Velvet Carpet
Carpet Moss leaves slim into a point at the end, but don't be scared it makes a soft, velvety green carpet. These moss carpets will add an aged look to your garden after establishing themselves.
Thrives in the Shade
Moss almost looks like someone added little bitty ferns to cover the shady, moist area of your garden.
Great Ground Cover
With time, moisture, some sunshine, and temperatures above 20 degrees Fahrenheit, moss will make a beautiful cover for shady areas of a landscape.
Japanese Zen Garden
Moss is a valuable gardening tool in Japanese zen gardens. Moss seems to upstage even the biggest of plants around it, and create a space of tranquility, and meditation.
Highlight Focal Points
Moss growing on uneven surfaces seems to heighten the sense of shape and abstract thought. It brings out the texture of the earth in ways other plants don't because they hide shape.
Add Color
The brightness of moss tends to deepen the dark colors around it. Giving the eye a sense of layering when taking in the colors of a garden.
A Charming Terrarium
Moss, in a terrarium, is a beautiful, modern way to add green to your space. The effect of the glass around it seems to give it a magnified view and draw the eye to its fantastic color.
Where To Buy Carpet Moss Online
Glass Home Gardens on Amazon has fresh sheet moss that is perfect for terrariums, or bonsai plants, and ground cover. It is a well-loved choice for accent a water feature, creating a moss lawn, or for living mulch. Find this moss on Amazon here.
Terrarium Moss on Amazon is selling Feather Moss that is sustainably harvested, pesticide-free and arrives in a 1-quart package. It works well for flower potting, around ponds, outdoor gardens, and bonsai projects. Click here to see this amazing product.
Tennessee Wholesale Nursery has a large variety of carpet and sheet moss for sale. Including moss for terrariums.
Sandhill Shores on Etsy has a beautiful kit for starting your terrarium.
Cute Farms on Amazon has this adorable terrarium kit. Click here picture to see the finished product.
Your Own Moss and Stone Garden
In a nutshell, carpet moss is a lovely, traditional, and yet modern addition to any garden. Be it indoors, outdoors, formal, or informal. It adds a sense of age, stillness, calm, and layers to a garden that not many plants can own nearly as well.
You ou are now equipped with the knowledge to make a beautiful garden all your own. You can add in moss to those shaded, undisturbed areas. It will draw the eye of garden admirers to the more forsaken edges of your artistic endeavors as a gardener. It will add evergreen to your garden spaces, helping to keep color even in the dreariness of winter. It will add a touch of magic to your landscape that brings all the elements together.