Moss: The Madman's Green Pick-Me-Up - Gardening with a Madman

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Sure, we’re out of the Persephone Period, but we still don’t see the sun until around 7 (if we see it at all!). And the madman is still in his mid-winter funk, so I dragged him out to the back looking for a green pick-me-up. And there it was – moss.

Moss, more correctly called mosses, is an ancient plant. In fact, it is 450 million years old. And has outlasted the dinosaurs. It has gone through ice ages and many climate changes. Moss is found all around the world, but it is often overlooked because of its small size. It is a keystone plant and is essential to our ecosystem. It is also essential to the madman. All the green in the back made the madman smile.

patches of green moss on the floor of a woods — *The madman loves seeing green in February, and the mosses cooperated.*

Ancient Plant Thrives

As we’ve said, moss has been around for a long time. It was actually the first plant to leave the sea and venture onto the land. Mosses have been going strong since then. Today, there are over 12,000 different species of moss.

Mosses belong to the Bryophytes, the earliest and least complex plants on earth. They don’t even have roots. Instead, they have rhizoids, hair like structures that anchor them to a surface like rocks, tree roots, or even concrete. Unlike most plants some species suck in nutrients through their rhizoids. Other species simply absorb nutrients from the air or the water around them. Also, unlike higher plants, mosses don’t have a vascular system to transport nutrients throughout the plants, so each individual cell is on its own. Long ago these plants learned that a bunch of them were more effective at holding onto the moisture than a single plant. That’s why we have clumps of mosses rather than a single moss.

a clump of green moss growing on a rock — *Long ago, mosses learned that a clump was better than one.*

Nature’s Fixer

Clumps of moss are good for the environment. They act like sponges to soak up rainfall and keep conditions around them humid, benefitting all the plants in the area. They are also the first plants to colonize areas disturbed by man through deforestation or by nature herself through events like forest fires and volcanic eruptions. In fact, green has returned to the devastated area caused by the famous eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Over time, vegetation came back to the area – mosses and grasses first, then shrubs and trees. The mosses arrived by windblown spores – after all, these mosses don’t have seeds.

No Flowers

The rootless plants don’t have flowers; no pretty colors to attract pollinators for the purpose of fertilization. No flowers mean no seeds. Instead, the plant spreads by spore formation. Each spore contains a single cell. Each clump of moss produces thousands of spores that are spread by wind and rain. To ensure survival, mosses can also grow from pieces that have broken off.

Empty spores line the top of a green moss clump — *Mosses reproduce via spores.*

Let’s move on because the beauty of mosses is not how they reproduce, but how they grow. Mosses are divided into two categories based upon growth habits. Acrocarpous mosses grow upright. They are slow growing and usually form a mounded colony. The commonly found Haircap Moss belongs to this group. Pleurocarpous mosses grow prostrate and are faster growing. Sometimes referred to as sheet moss, the Pleurocarpous varieties are often used for moss lawns. Both types grow well in wet shady areas although some mosses will tolerate some sun.

green moss growing between the roots of a tree — *This Haircap moss is common in Connecticut.*

Moss Myths

As a kid, I thought moss grew only on the north side of trees. If I ever got lost in a forest, I knew I could use moss for navigation. The madman said I was crazy and would be better off using a compass. Apparently, the experts agree with him. Moss grows on any side of a tree. It does prefer the north because of the shade factor, but it will grow anyplace that has the correct conditions. We actually have lots of mosses doing quite well in full sun.

Another common moss belief is that if mosses grow on your lawn, you need to add lime. Unfortunately, moss is as good at measuring pH as it is at giving directions. The madman says get a soil test from UConn or CAES instead of judging by the moss. That stuff will pretty much grow on any soil.

winter lawn with green moss beginning to intrude — *The madman says that despite the moss in his lawn, he’s not adding lime.*

Moss isn’t good for directions or pH measurement, but it is good for a few other things. Remember, all the green in our back chased away the madman’s winter blahs. That’s a pretty effective mood enhancer.

Mosses Do A Lot Of Good

Mosses help in the fight against air pollution. Since they get their nourishment from the atmosphere, they absorb pollutants. They also absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide worldwide, helping in the fight against climate change.

But it doesn’t stop there. Mosses absorb 20 times their weight in water. This helps reduce runoff from heavy rains and controls soil erosion. The retained water raises the humidity of the surrounding areas lowering the temperature several degrees – a boon for climate change. As you can see, mosses are good for us.

small stream with clumps of green along the edge. — *Mosses are very good at absorbing* CO2 gasses and other pollutants.

Genus Sphagnum

We can’t talk about mosses without mentioning the Sphagnums. Sphagnum consists of 380 species around the world. We refer to them as Sphagnum moss and Peat moss. So, what’s the difference between the two? Short answer is age. Sphagnum grows on the top of bogs worldwide. Growers harvest this type live. Peat comes from the same plant in the same areas but is actually made up of decaying Sphagnum. It takes nature thousands of years to produce peat moss.

Mention Sphagnum Peat Moss to a group of gardeners and you may start a good fight. One group will tell you it is the greatest soil enhancer going. It aerates the soil and increases moisture retention ability. It’s been used in horticulture since the 1960s, and millions of plants are better off because of it.

grey clump of dried sphagnum — *The madman found some old Sphagnum moss under his planting bench; this was probably used as a top dressing for a pot.*

The other group will be quick to tell you that harvesting Sphagnum Peat Moss is bad for the planet. Peat bogs store vast amounts of carbon, and our environment won’t tolerate losing any of these carbon sinks. Harvesting peat moss will only speed up climate change.

Is There A Substitute?

The madman has been experimenting with substitutes. We have used compost, leaves, wood chips and shredded paper to loosen our garden beds. But, more recently he has discovered Coconut Coir. Once a throw away byproduct of coconut processing, coir is now milled and refined into a soilless growing medium among other things. That little round disk in an amaryllis kit is usually a block of coir. Perhaps the best thing about coir is that no bogs were harmed in its production.