Hi, Starzz: Here's a photo of one of my moss baskets. I just make a shape out of chicken wire, fill it with woodland moss, then add soil. You can stick plants through the wire holes in order to have them grow out the sides, as well. Violas, lobelia, etc. look nice. I hang them around the yard on the trees and on the log ends of my house for extra color.
Hey Weeez..I just stumbled on this post from you..
I have been away for a couple of weeks..
I remember you saying you would post a close-up of the basket after I asked about it. Such a neat idea..and so colourful
I was reading about your idea of gathering woodland moss to line wire baskets in this forum..not easily available here but a good idea..
Can't wait to get planting..
Cheers,
Carol
Hey, another "Carol". I'm a Carol, too! I've been making moss baskets to hang on the trees, etc. for quite awhile. This one had a hard time of it, since a little squirrel used to come down and park his little butt on it every morning after raiding the bird feeder!
Fortunately, we have lots of moss around here. I try to find areas where it doesn't disturb the little ecosystems to move it. Sometimes there are little ferns growing in it, so I just leave them for extra character.
Hello all - what a coincidence; have been working on my web site writing a few more short articles and one of them was my recollections of constructing summer hanging baskets. I always used sphagnum moss either collected myself from the marshy areas in the countryside (in the days before conservation); or purchased from suppliers.
When I lived in the Cumbrian lake district of England and worked for a nurseryman I spent many happy (but lonely) days in the mountains collecting sphagnum moss from the stream sides. We used this to moss the wreath frames for the funeral wreath trade.
Peter
This message was edited Friday, Apr 5th 5:04 PM
We have lots of moss around here Peter63, but I haven't the heart to gather a great deal of it. Each clumping of moss is this tiny world that has a tiny civilization in it, so I feel like an evil giant everytime I harvest a batch!
I generally use the moss for a couple years, then throw it in the compost pile and trek off to find more moss in a less than picturesque spot. Sometimes I weave some little branches of alder cones or witches hair moss into the chicken wire for more character to the basket.
Please let us know where your website is so that we may read your story when it is finished!
Yes, we gardeners can perhaps be a bit selfish with nature when we want things our own way. There must be a miriad of creatures living in the sphagnum moss.
Your basket looks very natural aginst the bark of the tree. Far more so than the hanging ones that I'm more familiar with.
I will make use of my web site when using the forums if it seems appropriate, but at the present I want to add a few more itms. I also have a few thoughts on organic manures and manuring that I want to compile.
I don't have a public domain; just the free space that is provided by my ISP. Personal use and non-commercial.
It would be nice to make a little cash out of a web-site but I wouldn't have a clue. I think one needs a product to sell. However, it has been very interesting to learn about html coding and site layout. I don't go in for anything jazzy but prefer a toned down look.
Peter.
in the Philippines, there are no peat moss available. we use coconut husk as planter for hanging plants. the husk of the coconut is carefully opened to the shape of segments of an orange and kept intact, for use as base pot. orchids and bromiliads collected from the forest are planted inside the coconut husk. fresh home made hardwood charcoals or coconut shells made into charcoal are inserted inside the husk and more loosened husk are shreded. then the plants is gently nestled inside the base husk. the husk is then shaped to it's original round shaped. tied together with a 24 gauge wire to hold the plant together. orchids & bromiliads seem to like the coconut husk as it's new home. they do tribe on the coconut planter... another way to using natural product as planters or pot.
these days i see those coconut pulps being sold on the market. but those are not the kind we use from the old country. coconut husk shells are hard on the outside. they do last for a long time, before they fall apart.
coconut leaves or palm leaves are braided into a basket too. the fresh leaves are partly dried first, prior to weaving the basket to the form of a pot. there are one too many ways natural products are used as plant hangers from the old country.
HI! peter, I was just on another forum asking about spaghnum moss. (garden talk,not what I wanted)I want the kind that you can pull off what you need, but all I find is shreded. Is there a specific name for it. I too want it for baskets and to put in top of pots to hold in moisture.
Hello Tink, MaVieRose and Weezingreens, - and all
I have now finished my little bit of work on three more articles. The site is - http://www.dwsn.fsnet.co.uk/
Tink - I used to collect fresh moss from its habitat (now of course frowned upon here in the UK). It just pulled up out of its bed; about 30cm in length. The sphagnum moss you buy should have been kept moist in plactic sacks.
Peter
This message was edited Monday, Apr 8th 5:13 PM
MaVieRose: That's fascinating about the coconut shells. I'll bet the orchids felt right at home!
it is Carol! i wish they would sell the coconuts here with the husk on. it also preserves the coconut with the shell on.
guess, what? i could not find any orchid pot, around this isolated area. i bought small collanders at the 99 cents store: made an orchid pot out of it :D! filled it with orchid bark, pumice rock, horticultural charcoal, and made holes along the rim of the collander to hold the ropes to make a hanging basket.
i think we gardeners, need to improvise to make our plants happy :D! will post photo if u wish. i think it kinda cute and the orchids seems to be happy, since their roots are aerated too in the process. hehehehehe.
Yes, MaVieRose! Please post the photo.. it sounds like such a wonderful idea. Yes, we gardeners come up with some pretty creative ways to grow our plants.
u got it Carol! soon as daybreak come, i will post the photo in this forum [Container Gardening] and create another thread titled "Orchids in collander", otherwise, i won't be able to post the photo in this thread.
out of desperation, i keep looking around and it is the only viable solution at the moment for the poor orchid who has outgrown it's small pot.
Peter u're web site looks GREAT!!!! i see u worked harder, and added a few more things. how do u find the time? it seems 48 hrs for me is a long stretch... not even able to accomplished everything i wish to finished.
