Rhizoids are anchors for these tiny plants, but they are not true roots. In fact, she recommends walking or sitting on newly installed moss daily to help the moss ‘rhizoids’ attach to the growing surface. “Footsteps don’t hurt the plant,” says Martin. “It will even grow under walnuts, oaks and maples.” Anyone who has dealt with those trees knows the difficulties.Ĭontrary to what many believe, moss can tolerate light foot traffic. “Moss thrives under trees, and it grows well on tree roots,” she says. Martin shows how to get quicker results in her book. Its major drawback, if it has one, is its slow-growing nature. “It is so much better for our environment than a grass lawn,” she says. Moss has very few diseases or pests compared to turfgrass. It requires no fertilizers or amendments. Moss requires no mowing and takes only a tiny fraction of the water demanded by grass lawns. “A moss lawn or garden is not totally carefree but it is not nearly as much work as a conventional lawn,” says Martin. How hard is it to grow moss that is pleasing to see? “We may be the only landscapers in the country who could care less when the temperature goes below freezing,” says Annie Martin, a North Carolina author who runs a “mossery” and calls herself “Mossin Annie.” Martin’s new book, “The Magical World of Moss Gardening” (Timber Press, 2015) provides everything you need to know about moss as a landscape plant. Moss has its own sort of antifreeze and it lacks roots in the conventional sense.
As long as the growing surface is free of leaves, snow, and ice, we can develop moss beds throughout the fall and winter. But consider this: Moss is the one groundcover we can continue to cultivate when the rest of the landscape is dormant. It may seem odd to write about moss in a season of garden endings and holiday beginnings.
A moss lawn from Annie Martin’s new book “The Magical World of Moss Gardening.” Photo used by permission of the publisher.
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