Mosses again
- Subject: Mosses again
- From: A* B*
- Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001 08:38:45 +0200
At 01:10 PM 22.6.01 EDT, Harry Abel wrote:
>arhilde,
>i'd be very interested in knowing what your mosses are where you live.
>
-->harry - ohhhh .. you are asking a difficult question to answer short
and easy on if I understand it correct you want me to tell about all our
mosses?! There is a whole 'flora' book about mosses etc growing only in
Norway. And they are very specific in what condition they prefer to live
in. Dry or wet - sun or shade - soil or rock or wood etc etc?
We can find many kinds where I live because I live in a fjord and that give
us so much varying climate condition in a very short distance compared to
many other parts of Europe or other kind of landscapes from the sea level
to the mountain tops. It is said the we hare can find near all the European
vegetation types side by side while they in rest of Europe cover large area
and you have to travel long distance from one to another: tundra, needle
forest, etc …
If we come down to what I have in my garden? I have tried different - but
ended up with feather moss ( Hylocomium splendes) as the one I prefer as
ground cover. One main reason is that is has a colour that differs a bit
from most green plants since it is more yellow-green. That way the plants
shows better and do not just disappear in a green carpet? And it is a moss
that grows natural as a groundcover under trees etc here - in shade. And it
is an airy moss that gives good winter protection - and compared to open
soil it keep the annual weeds very well away.
There are also very green ones growing in more wet conditions like in my
river where the water is running all the time. Also there are some that
stay very green even in dry condition - and in a place where you only do
moss gardening that is nice.
I am the first gardener I know about here around or in Norway at all that
*use* moss - but yesterday some gardeners took a visit in my garden - and
one said when leaving that one of the first thing she would do coming home
was to start moss gardening - and .. they loved the use hosta too as well …
This could become a novel … I rather stop - but please Harry ask more
because I probably did not give you the answer you wanted? I will take
picture and send later if you are interested - but I do not have a digital
camera so it will take time if you don't mind?
Arnhild Bleie - Hardanger in Norway
