Larkspur and Irish Moss

My Favourite Moss

Okay. I know I've said lots of different things are my "favourite," but I really think this has to be my favourite favourite. There are two kinds of moss shown here: Irish (the light green) and Scottish (the dark green). I have only ever found Irish for sale, and I managed to get some Scottish from a friend. I started with about 5 square inches of each, and after five years of loving care, I now have a proliferous patch. The startling vibrant green here contrasts incredibly with the purple larkspur. I've learned to be very careful with my weeding in late spring when the sprores are planting themselves. If you clear away a nice few feet of fresh dirt in early spring, the spores will cover it by the end of the summer. A good technique is also to take a few chunks out of the centre of an established patch, and plant them as satellites a few feet from the main patch. Again, the spores fill in the gap from the centre of the established patch, and also fill in all around the new satellites. My only strong suggestion for cultivating moss is don't plant grass within sight of the moss (like I stupidly did). You'll spend hours picking grass out of the moss patch.


Follow the stepping stones into the shade...