Shade Gardening: Wanted: help with moss in a rock garden, 1 by Shadyfolks

Shadyfolks wrote:
Oh baberbie,
How lucky you are, we too have lots of moss that grows naturally on our property. Here's what I know:

Moss like acidic soil (ph less than 7) & high humidity!

Moss doesn't like to be littered with debris, so keep it clean of debris. I just walk the path with a back pack leaf blower and it's done in 15-20 minutes. I feel this also helps spread the spores!

If I want to start a new path/area, I would just blow it clean down to dirt, keep it clean within some months you will notice it starting to get a green hue. For me, a new area takes about two+ years to fill in. I do nothing to it, nature does it's thing, because I have the right conditions for it to happen (sounds like you do too). If you have a path that has wood chips or mulch on it, blow it off the area down to the hard compacted soil, moss doesn't grow where mulch is.

A couple of years ago I transplanted some moss. I took a shovel with a flat end. I held the shovel perpendicular to the ground and press the shovel into the moss to cut it into the same shape and size of my shovel blade. I then shoveled the piece of 'moss sod' making sure I took dirt with it. This makes it easy to work with and also to match pieces together. After you transplant it I would step all over it to pack it down. If the ground is very dry I maybe would water it. (although I have never watered my moss)

I believe (not 100% sure) moss grows during the colder months. That is why it looks so green and lush. During the summer months the moss is not quite so green, sometimes areas may have a little brown hue to it. I believe it is just dormant.

Folks are always amazed at the moss and all we do it keep it clean & weeded.

I hope this helps & is the kind of information you are looking for.

Here's a picture of one of our paths~