Are you looking for a beautiful, resilient, fast-growing creeper that can act as a groundcover, cascade down a rock wall, or look beautiful from a hanging basket? We've got the perfect plant for you!
Gold moss, also commonly referred to as stringy stonecrop, or graveyard moss, isn't actually what you'd commonly think of as a moss. It's a succulent! This perennial evergreen succulent has slender, pointed "leaf" segments, curved stems, and gorgeous, five-pointed yellow flowers, which was the inspiration for the moniker, "gold moss".
What is Gold Moss?
Gold Moss has an interesting, rich background that adds greatly to its value and allure. Native to China, Korea, and Thailand, gold moss has an interesting history in the United States. Due to its ability to thrive with a lack of care, it used to be a popular plant to bring to graveyards to add a splash of color. It fell out of favor because of its tendency to spread more quickly than was desirable, but it can still occasionally be found at some old gravesites.
They belong to the Sedum family, which is typically found in the Northern Hemisphere but extends into South America and Africa. As succulents, which are plants that store water in their leaves, they're more than capable of thriving in harsh conditions and are typically found in stony or sandy areas where many other plants wouldn't last long.
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How To Grow Gold Moss
For some people, even the idea of growing a low-maintenance succulent can be intimidating. No worries, we're going to give you all the information that you need to grow gold moss successfully.
Where is Gold Moss Grown?
Gold moss can be found naturally in many areas of the Northern Hemisphere, but you can find it all the way down into parts of Africa and South America! That means that no matter where you live, there's a good chance that you'll be able to grow it successfully! You will likely have great success growing this plant outdoors, and so long as it gets enough light and the soil drains well, you should be able to grow it inside as well!
Regardless of the location you're wanting to grow gold moss in, as long as basic soil and light requirements are met, you shouldn't have a problem. If it's planted in the open, for example in a flowerbed, it will spread and be an excellent groundcover that will lend some gorgeous personality and texture to your landscape. If you plant it in any type of flowerpot, instead of spreading to cover ground it will grow to drape out of the pot, giving a beautiful waterfall effect.
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How Big Does Gold Moss Get?
As far as height goes, it doesn't get much taller than three to five inches, which makes it a fantastic ground cover that you'll never have to mow. However, if we're talking about how far will it spread, that's an entirely different matter. Not only does gold moss have a fairly rapid growth rate, but it roots as it grows, so individual segments of the main plant can establish themselves, and may not die if you just cut them.
In addition to that, since it's a succulent if any of the leaf segments of the plant fall off, they can root and grow into an entirely new plant. This can happen over and over again until you have a thick, large "carpet" comprised completely of gold moss. So while a singular plant may grow to cover a span of several feet, it will definitely establish itself and spread to cover more and more ground the longer you leave it.
Best Growing Zones and Weather Conditions
Gold moss will thrive and do wonderfully in the range of zones three to eight, so long as the basic soil and light needs are met. It does best in full sun and tolerates heat and high humidity with fantastic resilience. It also handles drought very well, making it a fantastic choice for low water landscaping, or xeriscaping designs.
Best Type of Soil
Gold moss will do very well in poor, sandy soil that drains well. It doesn't need much soil to thrive either, and it is fully capable of clinging onto small patches of soil in the cracks in your driveway, or the chinks in a rock wall. It will do fine inside, so long as the pot you plant it in has good drainage and plenty of light!
Light and Shade Requirements
This beautiful succulent can do fantastically in a variety of lighting but will do best in full to part sun. It can handle shade just fine, so long as it's dry shade, and isn't planted in an area that remains damp because of a lack of consistent sunlight.
Watering and Fertilization Requirements
When you're establishing new plants, they'll need to be watered well to make sure they have a chance to become "independent", but once they've hit that point, and they're doing well on their own, you're going to want to cut down on the watering, as too much water can actually kill them.
Once the gold moss is established, it needs very little water, as the leaf segments of the plant are designed to hold and store the water that the plant needs. It's a fairly shallow-rooting plant, so too much water will give it root rot, which can kill it quickly. It's a desert plant, so keep that in mind when you're choosing a location to plant it, as it will need to be in an area that won't get much water, whether that's from you, the natural flow of water in your yard from an automatic system, or the weather, if it rains consistently in your area.
How to Plant Gold Moss: A Step-By-Step
Seed
If you're growing from seed, you're going to need to plant them in moist soil, and cover the seeds with something clear, like a plastic wrap, to help keep the soil damp, and to keep the humidity and warmth in.
Once the seedlings have started to sprout and have had some time to grow, they can be planted in well-draining soil in full sun. Keep an eye on them until they've started to noticeably grow and spread, as that's the point where you'll know for sure that you can cut back on their watering.
Plants
If you're planting some gold moss you bought already established from the store, you won't have to worry about it quite as much. So long as you keep an eye on it for a bit after you plant it to make sure it continues to grow, and give it a thorough watering after you move it to its new place, you should be good to go!
Photo Gallery
Melting Gold
This is a perfect example of gold moss's ability to cover objects, like a brick wall, or decorative stones.
Sunfire
With a gold moss plant and a little time, your flowerbed can look just like this!
The Birth of Spring
Gold moss flowers add the perfect touch of scattered brightness to any variety of beautiful landscapes.
Fields of Gold
The bright yellow blossoms from gold moss are a favorite of bees, bringing them to your gardens and orchards, and giving a gorgeous flare of color to your yard.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Gold moss can be trimmed and grown to have direction, giving the appearance of a road or a stream, livening up your landscape.
Gold and Green
As a stand-alone, or as an accent, gold moss will spread to become a gorgeous carpet in your flowerbed.
A Cup Full of Sunshine
Gold moss can be a fantastic indoor plant. When potted, it becomes an attractive draping plant, as opposed to a groundcover.
Home-Grown Happiness
Gold moss can be used in hanging baskets to inspire a feeling of summer wherever you are!
We Grow Better Together
You can use gold moss as a beautiful desk plant, bringing a little bit of nature into your workplace.
Differences Are Beautiful
So long as you keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't spread more than you want it to, gold moss can provide a wonderful accent to the different colors your other plants bring to the table.
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It's The Small Things
You can use more than one kind of draping plant to create some gorgeous contrast in your garden or your flowerpot.
From a House to a Home
A waterfall of plants on an actual waterfall? Why not?
Organic Gold
Stunning yellow blossoms bring a beautiful light to the green background of delicate stems and dappled shadows.
Silver-lined Sunshine
A perfect border plant, you can use gold moss to fill the cracks in your cobblestones!
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One Step at a Time
Once gold moss is established, you don't have to worry about it fading out on you. It's a resilient little plant.
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Household Gold
Plant some in a pot at your windowsill to have a gorgeous piece of sunshine indoors.
Where To Buy Gold Moss
Are you looking to buy this plant for your house or landscape? You can buy seeds to start in your home from Amazon, by clicking here!
If you buy seeds, make sure you plant according to directions, as simply scattering seeds on a bare patch of ground won't yield productive (if any) results.
If seeds seem like they might be too much work, or you're not wanting to wait for the plant to grow and establish itself, you can buy already established gold moss plants off of Amazon by clicking here!
Here's a post about the types of moss that would suit your garden.