On 01/12/2013 16:47, Pam Moore wrote:
On Sun, 01 Dec 2013 16:14:12 +0000, Spider wrote:

On 01/12/2013 12:26, sacha wrote:
On 2013-11-30 23:02:30 +0000, Spider said:

On 29/11/2013 17:34, Sacha wrote:


snipThe first time Ray took me to Tresco we were going round the Abbey
Gardens with Mike Nelhams, the Curator. A woman stopped him and
gesturing towards some lichen spotted branches, asked him "How do you
get rid of this?". He replied that they don't as the lichen does no
harm an is an indication of very clean air. I quite understand if
someone is worried about slipping on it but if it's just a desire to be
'tidy' then it passes me by. Someone did a 'moss wall' at Chelsea (?) a
year or two back and it's one of the prettiest things I've ever seen.
Istr that Tom Hoblyn did something similar as a decorative staircase in
a garden at Hampton Court many years ago and it was stunning. Like a lot
of showcase gardens, it wouldn't take daily wear and tear but as a
thought prodding feature in a show garden, it worked wonderfully.


Yes, I think we're sowing from the same seed packet, so-to-speak. I
must get rid of some moss on a dangerous sloping path, but I encourage
it in most other places. I even buy Selaginellas when I see them and
admire mossy Saxifragas, however common they may be. After all,
Prince Charles loves mosses and tries to grow them, so they can't be
all bad. They can look magnificent in woodland gardens, with ferns,
Corydalis and broader leaved woodland plants. I'd like to extend an
already partly mossed area into a bigger hummocky mossy bed studded
with Winter Aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) in late winter. That would
be so pretty.

Beautiful, Spider. What a really good idea. When the glasshouses here
were power-washed earlier this year to clean off the glass, lots of moss
got washed off. One of the girls picked some up and arranged different
types in one of those terracotta saucers and took it home. It was
absolutely lovely!



I confess I've occasionally rescued a good patch of moss when clearing a
bed and tried to establish it elsewhere. Alas, it doesn't take very
well, although it keeps its velvety greenness for a long time.
One day, when I've got nothing else to do(!), I must try and learn about
the different types of moss. They're so attractive.

In traditional Japanese gardens they have to weed out the grass from
the moss!

Pam in Bristol




I can understand that. In fact, I do it myself in an area where I want
to maintain good moss cover. Uninterrupted hummocks of mossy growth can
be very attractive.
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay