Although Wisconsin doesn't have moss that hangs on tree branches and leaves one wonder struck, we have many different kinds of moss that are beautiful and can be seen nearly year round. Moss coats stumps, the bases of trees, and low wet places in the woods.
My yard has acidy soil and plenty of shade and moss flourishes here. I'd rather have a carpet of moss in my yard than green grass that needs continual mowing. Moss is soft under the feet and easy on the eyes.
A special kind of moss, called sphagnum moss, grows in the acidic peat soil of central Wisconsin marshes. It has been a source of income for many years and my father and brothers all have had jobs harvesting it. After the moss is pulled up, it is dried and baled. Then it is shipped to nurseries, greenhouses, and gardeners throughout the country. This moss can hold up to twenty times its weight in water. This little patch of sphagnum moss below is growing near my cabin.
Years ago I planted a moss garden in the yard that includes about six different types of moss. Through the years the mosses have blended together amid stones and bricks and share their spot with wild flowers in springtime and wintergreen and partridge berries. With adequate rainfall each summer, I can always count on seeing green when I look at my moss garden.
Celebrating,
and appreciating,
an incredibly soft and precious plant called moss!
My thoughts exactly in my yard moss is welcome,then I don't have to be a slave to mowing the green carpet called a yard. It has so many neat styles . what a great topic thanks for a sunday nite breath of fresh air called nature.
ReplyDeleteI am a moss lover too! So soft, a real treasure when found!r
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