[Fwd: RE: Moss garden]

> From: The Elephant Walk
> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2001 6:07 AM
> To: bryonet
> Subject: Moss garden
>
> First I must confess that I am not scientifically or academicly involved
> with bryophytes but rather I am working on developing a moss garden . We
> have a Bed and Breakfast (Elephantwalkbandb.com) in Stillwater, MN with a
> nice shady garden area. I have established a mist system to assure a moist
> environment. I have ordered a few books- HOW TO KNOW THE MOSSES AND
> LIVERWORTS.
> PICTURED-KEYS FOR DETERMINING MANY OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MOSSES AND
> LIVERWORTS but am ancious to keep going. Does anyone have any thoughts on
> this ,i.e. amount of mist(frequency) and how to feed these guys once they
> are in place. Also any realitively none technical reading suggested would
> be appreciated.
>
> If this is deemed to disrupt the bryonet's users please advise ana I will
> not post but will read with interest to increase my knowledge.
> Thanks
> Mike Robinson mike@elephantwalkbb.com
>


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Subject: RE: Moss garden
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 11:27:32 -0400
From: KONING,ROSS E. (Biology) <KONING@easternct.edu>
To: 'bryonet-l@mtu.edu' <bryonet-l@mtu.edu>

BRYONET

Hi Mike,

You have asked a question that I'm afraid I cannot
answer with any credibility...but there is a book with
some excellent inspiration for a moss garden called
"Moss Gardening" by George Schenk (Timber Press
ISBN 0-88192-370-2) that might be interesting for you.
I don't think it gives as much nuts and bolts advice that
would answer your question, but I think you would
enjoy reading through it and seeing some photos of
moss (liverwort, lichen, and "mossy" plants) gardens.

It is clear to me that you would NOT need a lot of mist
for many mosses, but certainly some would thrive in
such a mist. For fertilization, again some mosses like
a rich environment but most (in my limited experience)
will be wiped out by nutrient levels that would be used in a
common vegetable garden. So watch out for doing too
much fertilizer.

Here in New England, people try to get away from moss
in their lawns and are usually quizzing me along those
lines. The prescription for that is: neutralize the acid pH
with lime and then provide adequate levels of nitrogen
for grass. This is a one-two punch that knocks out the
mosses that grow here.

So again, don't do too much fertilization and you may want
the pH of your mist to be about 5.5 perhaps.

ross

Professor Ross E. Koning, PhD
Chapter President ECSU-AAUP
Biology Department - Goddard Hall
Eastern Connecticut State University
Willimantic, Connecticut 06226 USA

Phone: (860)-465-5327
FAX: (860)-465-5213
Pager: (860)-744-2705
email: koning@easternct.edu
http://koning.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/

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