How to Grow Moss like a Boss

Today begins a new series here at the nest focusing on basic DIY gardening techniques that even beginners can master!  You might see some posts from the past that have been helpful for others (like this one!) and you will also see brand new posts thrown in the mix as we move along!  I would love to get your opinions and hear what you struggle with in the garden - I am here to help!  So grab your trowel and gardening gloves and let's dive right into some DIY Gardening that you CAN master!

Ready?  We are going to start with growing and transplanting moss.  It is much simpler than yuo might think!  Moss is tough! 

1. Find a patch of moss. (If you don't have easy access to moss in your yard, you CAN buy moss and transplant it into a terrarium once it arrives.  HERE is a great little collection of various types to experiment with.)   I have these random patches of moss growing everywhere shady in my yard in all different varieties. Look around lawns and other shady areas to find a chunk. Just take a little...leave some there and it will replenish itself.  If you want to feel really good about yourself, find a chunk of moss that has a bunch of weeds in it like this:

Dig up the moss and you can then easily pull the weeds out...a win-win...transplanting AND weeding at the same time!  You want to target patches that have tough weeds like queen anne's lace, dandelions and quackgrass.  My moss had all of those and more - lucky me!  By the way, now is the time of year to start the fight against weeds when they are little and have not even thought about reproducing yet.  (I am working on a beginner's guide to identifying weeds...stay tuned!)

2. Dig up a chunk of moss by slicing sideways under the moss, as opposed to digging down.  Moss does not have roots, so you are just going to slice off a layer of moss from the surface.   You don't need a bunch of dirt from underneath the moss.

3.  Once you have a thin slice of moss, you should make sure you pull out the weeds if there are any.  Mine had plenty.  This is what it should look like once it is clean.  (Yes, I realize I missed a couple tiny ones...)

4.  Now you need a surface with bare dirt to "plant" it on.  The moss need to have access to the soil and a bunch of water to establish itself.  Thus, I planted on a very rainy day.  Alternatively, you could just water your moss in, making sure it stayed moist for at least a week.  Moss prefers to be damp, so it is one plant you can go a little overboard as opposed to "underboard" on the watering.

5.  Give the moss a little pat to make sure the plant is in direct contact with the soil and you are finished! 

Too wordy for you?   Basically...

1.  Find Moss.

2.  Dig it up (sideways!)

3. Get rid of weeds.

4.  Lay it on bare dirt and water.

5. Watch moss be pretty!

Don't have any moss?  Amazon sells LIVE moss (make sure you get the live kind!) right HERE, HERE or HERE.  
The last one listed there is a cool assortment of a bunch of different kinds of moss -- fun!

Happy planting!

 If you liked this tutorial, then you might enjoy the BOOK!

Make your own coconut oil.

Gather your own sea salt.

Grow your own grapevines for wreaths.

Give gifts naturally grown and crafted from your backyard garden.

Each chapter focuses on a plant or groups of plants and how to grow them in your home garden.  Then, gather up those natural ingredients and get crafting! From lavender wreaths and hypertufa planters to lambsear angels and pickled tomatoes, there are projects for beginners on up!

Crafting with Nature is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, POWELL's! (!!!!)  Booktopia (Australia!), IndieBound, Alibris, Glose.com, The Book Depository and Walmart.com.  Books are also rolling out to retailers and libraries, so check for them there. 

 If your library does NOT have it yet, this is why you should talk to your librarian!

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