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Jack in the Pulpit? Correct?

candogal
9 years ago

I think I spotted a fading Jack in the Pulpit in my woods where I usually don't go. I wouldn't have noticed it, except the bright red berries really stood out. It's ironic, because I was just thinking about ordering Jack seeds. Am I right?

Yes, I used gloves to harvest the seeds. When I touched the berries, they fell off easily, so I'm hoping they were ready.

Comments (29)

  • agkistrodon
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yup! I'd say so! Nice find :)

    Here's what they should look like inside....helps to remove the pulp as it often inhibits germination (sorry if you already knew this).

    Here is a link that might be useful: growing JIP's from seed

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Adidas, thanks so much! It's great to have someone else confirm. I was fairly sure, and got more sure when I accidentally touched my face right after harvesting the berries. Ooops. The slight burning faded after a couple hours.

    I left some berries on the plant to see if they'll seed themselves. I got 32 fat, viable looking seeds from the berries I picked. Thanks for the link - I followed those directions. I've got them all potted up to sit out all winter here in NH. My husband is tired of me cold stratifying stuff in the fridge. Do you think I need to water them if it doesn't rain for a few days, since they are hydrophyllic? Until it gets cold, I mean.

    This is so perfect! I'm just starting real plans for my woodland garden, after years of reading up. Thanks, nature! :-)

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  • agkistrodon
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Candogal,

    I would probably keep the soil moist....I am trying to start some lilies (Clintonia sp.) and goldenseal from seed....and have been keeping the pots in the shade and watering them when it doesn't rain for a while. I know what you mean about seed stratifying in the fridge....doesn't mix well w/husbands or kids :)

    I'd love to see before and after pics of your garden....could you post some if you have time? Are you enhancing a wooded area or have you cleared a place for the garden?

  • wisconsitom
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just don't do what I did many years ago: I'm 58 now, but back in my late teens, I was, shall we say, an explorer of all things green. Tramping around in the woods behind the house, I was looking for ginseng. I thought maybe I'd found some, having come across some fading plants with clusters of bright red fruits. All these years later, I'm sure it was Jack in the Pulpit though, because weirdo that I was, I popped a couple of these bright red fruits into my mouth! Don't do that! I still remember wondering if the numbness and burning would go away, or if I'd just done a really stupid thing, instead of just a kind of stupid thing!

    The effects did fade, and you know what? I've never repeated that little experiment in.....I'm not sure what!

    +oM

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Adidas, sorry I took so long to respond. I'll go out and take some pics tomorrow. My 1 acre lot is pretty much all woods. I have what is for small town NH a small front yard. (About 45 feet deep from the road.) Then in back where most of our property is, the trees/woods come almost right up to the house. It's beautiful back there and one of the reasons we bought the house.

    There's an area right behind the house that's about 17 feet in some places to about 34 feet in others by about 90 feet (length of the house). Just out from that is a drop in grade. Along more than half of the length on the other side of the drop, there's a seasonal brook that then turns about 90 degrees and runs back through our property. The trees start growing where the grade starts to drop, and help hold the bank. The area I want to work on is mostly deep shade.

    We've owned the house 15 years and done nothing with the area, although I've spent hours weekly in the smaller sunny front area, and learned a lot along the way. I've been reading up on native gardening for years and dreaming of...I guess I'd call it enhancing the woodland. I'd always imagined a patio in this area, with native plantings around it, then maybe enhancing a little even more "wild" areas farther back. Since the woods are right there, and we treasure them, natives just feel right.

    It's a long story, but our house was a training site for a landscaper that works in concrete. We're not huge fans of concrete, but we couldn't resist the amazing deal to get the hardscaping we've dreamed of but hadn't been able to afford or manage to get around to doing ourselves. What with our plans for natives, it feels especially silly to put in "fake" stuff, but it turned out looking pretty good, we think. The landscaper put in some retaining walls, a fire pit, and a water feature for his training. Also a patio and a walkway. Way more than I would have chosen to put in if even if I'd had an unlimited budget, but I think it will work out well. Though I'm sure many would be thrilled and it turned out great, I'm a little conflicted about the water feature. My teenage son (and sometime gardening buddy since toddlerhood) hopes we can enhance the water feature so newts and things might move in. Sounds like a good plan to me.

    So the area around the hardscaping is the project for now, and eventually hopefully down into the woods, though we do love our woods how they are. I'm experienced with both wintersowing and starting from seed inside, so my plan, both for my budget and for fun, is to grow as much as possible on my own. I'm reading up on starting ferns. The trees and shrubs I figure I'll have to order. I expect it to take years, but that's the fun, right?

    I'll take some pics. The ones I have so far focus on the hardscaping, not the planting areas. Can I upload pdf's? My wonderful hubby drew me site plans.

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wisconsitom: Your mouth! Ouch! Though I did stupid stuff like that when I was a teen, too...

    Adidas: I brought on getting kicked out of the fridge for seed stratifying myself. One year, I was stupid and bought an herb from a big box store. I came home and plopped it on my seed shelf with my precious baby veggies - 4 shelves of them. Pretty soon the aphids spread everywhere, even onto my nearby house plants. Being a gardener, it seemed to me the "obvious" solution was to buy ladybugs and release them in the house. I'm not joking. The Asian ones crawl in every winter and hibernate, so I decided what was the difference? Said seed shelf was in the kids' playroom, not a greenhouse, mind you. I ordered the native ladybugs, released some, solved my aphid problem, made sure to provide food sources for them when the aphids were gone, and got at least some of them out when it was time to harden my veggies. My family thought I was nuts, but coped. BUT I kept the extras in hibernation in the fridge until it was time to release them, like the instructions said. My daughter (now in college) called it quits when I accidentally plopped them on the top shelf, right in easy sight. She's not the squeamish type, but they were starting to come out of hibernation, and moving around a bit in their container...

  • wisconsitom
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yeah, that was a dumb thing I did there, all those years ago. Not the only dumb thing, mind you, but it still stands out!

    +oM

  • agkistrodon
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Candogal,

    I love your ladybird story :)! That's the kind of thing I might have done had my eldest not been terribly, terribly insect-phobic! She hears stinkbeetles (marmorated...we have a huge infestation in northern VA) flying and she's up for half the night :( !

    As for your water feature...what is it? Is it a pond and waterfall? There is so much you could do w/that...sounds like great fun!! We have a tiny little pre-formed pond for my 8 yr old...she wanted toads to visit...and they do but I learned the hard way...you really need to have a lot of foliage around it because a lot of critters...guessing raccoons? foxes? will kill them if they get the chance. I don't know if you can upload pdfs...you can try...otherwise just take a screenshot...I'd love to your plans! For me, I'm the only one interested in "landscaping" so my efforts are extremely piecemeal.... this place is filled w/invasives and has been for many yrs....trying to work around them as I find them! I do know that if you have some nice woods, relatively untouched by invasives, you can have some decent sized shrubs and forbs w/in 5 yrs from seed...so it may be a quicker than you think :)

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Adidas -

    I'm a mental health counselor, and I work with children. I once worked with a boy who was phobic about insects, to the point where it was preventing him from being outside playing with the other neighborhood kids. As part of my work with him, I brought in my gardening insect book "Good Bug, Bad Bug." It helped him a lot to learn that there are "good bugs" that serve a purpose. I'm sure your daughter knows that, though.

    Meanwhile, I agree with your daughter! I had to look up what a marmorated stink beetle is. Ugh! Sounds like a major infestation.

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here's an overview of the hardscaped area. (No, it's not that sloped. I must have had my phone tilted.)

    The water feature is at the far distance in the pic. It's not running in the picture - there's not even water in it, because it's being sealed. The large thing to the back left of it is a large constructed "rock." The water flows out on top and trickles down in 3 ways, which is neat. It is growing on me, though I thought it would be "too much." (And yeah, we can't figure out why they didn't put the rock on the right, so it would looks more natural, like part of the hill.)

    That's a mature sugar maple between the fire pit bench and the water feature. It took me a lot of work to keep them from messing with the grade right near the tree, but I managed it. It's only about a foot from the bench and 2-3 feet from the water feature, though. I hope we didn't just kill it - we love it there.

    The previous neighbors clear-cut their woods, so that's what the light is in the background. I'd like to figure out something that would screen the view of their porch some.

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I turned 180 degrees (and stepped back 5 or so feet) and took this picture of the planting areas around the walkway in from the driveway. I freaked out at my husband a little after the walkway was poured. "They've put a sidewalk in our woods! Ack!" I figure I need some plants spilling onto it to soften it.

    The piles of soil are from the grading process to put everything in - it's our topsoil. We're going to use it to fill in the grade.

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here's one that shows the water feature closer up.

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm standing on the pile of soil to take this pic. In the foreground is our stream bed. It's dry now - it's full in spring from snow melt & after heavy rains in summer & fall. Our property goes back well beyond the scope of this picture.

    I'd love ideas. My family will listen some to my garden burblings, but they're not interested in, say, obsessing over shrubs.

  • wisconsitom
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cando, in looking at your piles of soil, I'm hoping you know you can slowly kill your trees by changing the grade on them. If you do know this, great, and I'll forego my explanation. If not, let us know, and we can talk about that!

    +oM

  • agkistrodon
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Candogal,

    I think the hardscaping has a lot of potential and as it weathers it will blend in better with the surrounding woods. If it were me....and I know we are not all clones....I would want some moss growth over the rocks/stones/concrete. I am not a professional landscaper, far from it, so I'm not even quite sure what grade you are referring to that needs to be fixed. There appear to be slopes in the woods....do you mean grading towards the walkway? My entire property is on a slope and I find that it offers you greater variety in planting...particularly natives...but if there's a reason to adjust the grade around the walkways...I don't know much about that.

    Are you planning to landscape around the path/patio? Have you any plants, shrubs in mind? The water feature looks very nice...def. needs some fern, moss....not sure if this would be applicable but I have a wet meadow on my property and there are some beautiful rushes/sedges that will grow in water or around wet areas. Again, not sure if this is applicable but if you suffer from the invasive species as much as we do here and you plan to grade w/soil I would def. get some wood chip mulch or leaves to cover that soil with esp. if you plan to plant woodland natives...many species need a fungal element to thrive (if you know all this I'm sorry), leaves will keep weeds like stiltgrass etc at bay until your natives can fill in the area. Looks as though you will have a blast!! Please update w/photos as you go!

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wisconsitom: Gosh, it does look like we've changed the grade, doesn't it? So thank you for your kindly phrased words of caution, because if we didn't know about this issue, we would have a big problem on our hands, wouldn't we?

    I don't think this is a problem. The piles of soil are from the grading where the patio & walkway are, and the soil is going back into pretty much the same place, plus behind one wall. The only tree in the pic that had the grade changed is a maple that's slated to be taken out soon (before winter), because by the time we cut enough of the tree back to protect the house, too little is left to keep the tree healthy. That's also the only tree that the piles of soil are currently interfering with it's flare/trunk area.

    The other trees look like the grade has changed & soil is piled around their trunks because they are growing in the bank where it drops, and most of them are growing a few feet down the slope. They've been there for 15+ years (or seeded themselves since), same grade, nothing disturbed. The piles of soil are at the top of the bank/slope with some space between the pile & the drop. So just an illusion of the picture. But thanks so much for bringing this up! The idiot concrete guys wanted to push all the soil off the edge, but we firmly and frequently prevented them.

    There's a tree to the other side that I'll watch closely. I don't want to cut it down, but the concrete guys built the wall closer to it than they were supposed to. I can't remember how much it's flare was buried in the slope before, but I know it was some. We'll see how it does.

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Adidas - Yes, sorry, the grading is mostly just the few inches of soil that need to be filled in around the walkway & patio. Plus behind the one wall where they built it out from the slope a little. Once we get the perf pipe & 3/4 stone in there for good drainage, we're not sure how much soil we'll need, though.

    Yes, I'm imagining all that full of plants. As to exactly what... I'm just starting on that. I'm trying to figure out if a Redbud or a flowering Dogwood would be happy there. I don't know much about ornamental or understory trees, because I have so many trees I never imagined planting any. Any suggestions?

    For shrubs, I have more ideas. Definitely some Mtn. Laurel (Kalmia latifolia). I see lots of it growing wild in my area in similar conditions, and it's both healthy & lovely. I'm also thinking about Leucothoe fontanesia, Fothergilla (not sure which), Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), and Hobblebush (Viburnum alnifolium). Also some rhododendron, though I wonder if it's too shady to get decent flowering. I was at Garden in the Woods (NE Wildflower Society) this week, and I couldn't resist the 40% off plant sale for members. I picked up a small R. maximum and have to figure out the perfect spot for its future monster size.

    I also picked up 2 Cinnamon Ferns (Osmunda cinnamomea) & one Eastern Leather Wood Fern (Dryopteris marginalis). I can't afford to buy as many ferns as I'd like. I'm going to try ordering spores and see what I can do over the winter. I was thinking Ostrich Fern (M. struthiopteris) would look good near the water feature if it's wet enough for one. Do they really get as huge as my books say?

    As far as perennials, gosh, it's hard to choose. We had some wild ephemeral violets back there that may now be gone from the grading, unless some survived closer to the driveway. (My son & I tried to save some, but even the greenery is gone now. We settled for scooping up soil near where we knew some were & saving that.) So I'll put some seeds of those out there this fall. My husband is fond of Trilliums. My son's favorite flower is Merstensia virginica, but I forgot to collect seeds from our specimen this year. We have Patridgeberry (Mitchella repens) throughout our woods, so no doubt I'll transplant some into the area. Any favorites to suggest?

    I'm a huge fan of moss, too. My son & I also saved some moss from the area, plus there are abundant colonies in other places on our property. Both my son & I really want moss to grow on the walls, so I'm reading up on keeping it happy if I transplant some small chunks.

    Do any rushes/sedges grow in the shade? I thought they all liked full sun? I'll look into that, though - that would be lovely. Any other ideas for around the water feature? They put the large rock facing the wrong way - I have this urge to pick it up from 11 o'clock and spin it around to 2-3 o'clock so the water looks like it's coming from down the hill. I feel like I need something full behind the water feature to hide the fact that the water comes from nowhere.

    And the mulch is a very good point. I know about fungal elements - we have 2 wild pink ladyslippers on the side of our house under an oak and a white pine. But I forgot about making sure to help the disturbed soil settle back into a healthy woodland soil, so thank you for the reminder! One of the trees we need taken out is a very large white pine. I wonder if they can chip it on site? Or leaves are easy - it's fall in New England. I've snagged people's leaves or grass from the compost pile at the dump before. (Imagine a nutty gardener hanging out by the compost pile at the town dump, asking people if they use chemicals as they dump their lawn debris.)

  • agkistrodon
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It's funny how a discussion like this will send me further into madness but it does :) Are you planning to grow all of these things from seed? I know you said you were but I'm not sure if you you plan to buy actual trees/shrubs for the bigger things. The reason I ask is, that I have plenty of Lindera seeds hanging around....this place is in a forest of spicebush...and I'd be happy to send you some! It does seem to me that Lindera will produce more flowers/berries in full sun than in the woods but they grow well in both places as long as there are fairly moist conditions. We have redbuds in full sun and in the woods and they do well either way...seem to flower beautifully in shade. We also have witchhazel which grows in the woods...it takes on beautiful shapes as we are on a mountain and they are all growing on very steep banks. Dogwood is very similar to redbud as it likes a variety of conditions...I do not have any "ornamentals"...if by that you mean asian varieties so I cannot give any advice there. Not sure about Fothergilla for you...what is your zone? I would probably go w/F. major as it grows well in the mountains and thus might be able to handle colder conditions? Itea virginica is another plant that might do well around your paths. Native Rhodies do well in the woods, as do azaleas....these thrive (and flower!)in very dark woodsy places in the mtns of NC. Mountain laurels are perfect! Though Rhodies and azaleas are easy to germinate from seed they are extremely labor intensive from seed as they are so tiny as seedlings! I've found that you can grow them from seed more easily if you get a rotting log, mash it a bit on top, make sure it stays wet and sprinkle seeds on it and leave it alone!

    There are plenty of woodland sedges and rushes around here that grow in full/ partial sun and shade...limiting factor appears to be moisture and my not recognising that they were sedges and rushes when I first got here 3 yrs ago and I mowed them :(

    I could never get VA bluebells to grow from seed but doesn't mean you can't...but if you fail, find a trustworthy seller on ebay (not the easiest thing to do) and buy some rootstock. Trilliums are difficult by seed as they can take several yrs to germinate and germination is sporadic...so again if you can, I'd buy rootstock. I have also tried growing ferns from spores. It's a little trickier than growing plants from seed. I had luck when I bought spores from Garden in the Woods...I grew Dryopteris goldiana, Osmundastrum cinnamomeum and a couple of others with success BUT now you can't buy seeds from there anymore so I bought spores elsewhere and I don't think they were viable/fresh so I gave up on growing ferns.

    There are many shrubs that like to hang over/grow around water....tag alders, dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), buttonbush (another shrub that will do well in sun or shade) etc. Many kinds of moss, ferns and rushes (some can grow in water too). I could go on and on.....

    Also, there's nothing to stop you from adding some natural stone to your water feature...in other words if you can't change the position of the big rock...make it fit in :)! I've gotta run and sow some seeds! Have fun!!!

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Adidas - Great ideas, all! Thank you so much for talking with me about my project. It helps to hear other people's ideas.

    I would love some Lindera/spicebush seeds, thank you! I do think I'll try to find reputable places to buy at least some bare root shrubs & trees or splurge and buy some (less some) from Garden in the Woods if I can't find reputable and cheaper online sources. That way, things can get jump started. But it would be fun to grow shrubs, too. Thank you for your offer. The idea about mashing a log to grow rhodies & azaleas is a great tip. I've got lots of rotting logs - sounds super easy.

    We're in zone 5b. Cullina's shrub & tree book says F. major grows to zone 4, and F. gardenii to zone 5. I know I've seen F. major at Garden in the Woods, which is a bit over an hour south from me. Itea virginica - just looked it up - wow! What gorgeous fall color. And witch hazel sounds good, too. Both going on the list. Still researching the grasses & sedges. Thanks for pointing me in that direction - I'd thought they wouldn't grow in shade, so ignored them completely.

    By "ornamentals" I actually meant "pretty" understory trees like redbud and dogwood as opposed to my massive mature white pines, oaks, maples, etc. I'm still trying to ID all my trees, but I think most of the currently smaller ones are young trees, not understory trees. There aren't a lot of wild shrubs, either. Is this normal for a woodland or am I mis-identifying? When we bought the property 15 years ago, the woods were much more open, with less/little in the understory and shrub height zone.

    We'll see what happens with the ferns from spores. Since I have no expectations, if I get any, I'll be thrilled. It does sound hard. And I agree, it's too bad Garden in the Woods doesn't sell seed any more.

    I found a great source called Sunshine Farm & Gardens in WV. Barry has amazing prices on mature Trilliums that he cultivates, so I'm putting in an order for some for spring delivery. I sent an email yesterday & he's already responded.

    Thanks for all your help. Don't feel burdened to reply. Plant those seeds!

  • cooperdr_gw
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Those plants are cool and they love runoffs from dirt roads. Sandy dirt is good for them for some reason.

  • wisconsitom
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cando-it's well-nigh impossible a lot of the time to determine what any given patch of woods "is supposed to look like", in terms of understory vegetation, etc. The reason-deer. We just have such an unnaturally high deer population across the US that original conditions are almost never seen.

    Here in Wisconsin, patches of National forest were purposely fenced off to exclude deer. The results were amazing. A huge explosion of forbs, sedges, and especially young tree regeneration, while in the unfenced patches directly adjacent, no such growth. So we're not typically seeing things "the way they were".

    +oM

  • queen_gardener
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You should totally start trading, Candogal - love the name, btw. I have some Great Soloman's Seal seeds leftover. I have been trading very hard this summer (my first year trading - so much fun!) and I've been concentrating on natives. I've also been reading a LOT, getting every native plant book out of the library. I wish I could have gotten Camassia this fall, so I could have seen it this coming spring. But I got a lot of other stuff through trading, Jack seeds, fern starts, Dutchman's Breeches corms, Canadian Ginger, Tirarella, Bloodroot, Northern Sea Oat Grass, etc etc. I've also bought native plants and seeds off of Etsy, very reasonable prices. I'm being as frugal as possible! I have a woodsy garden in one corner, and in another area I have a part sun Rain Garden by some limbed up pine trees. Natives are the logical choice for rain gardens, because of their immense and deep root systems. And a lot of natives can tolerate an occasional flood.

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wisconsitom: Imagine my hand smacking to my forehead. Of course! We do have deer, but we only see them way at the back of our property, and even that infrequently. They do cross our street sometimes, but about a "block" down or so. There are so many better places so close - hundreds of acres of wooded recreation land. (Which is really cool for us humans, too.) I'm still confused about why it used to be so much more sparse with the woody undergrowth if it's deer, though. I'll read up and see if the deer population has changed in the area. In my recent reading on woodlands, I saw a photo online of a place where folks had fenced off to keep deer out a year or a few before. It was enlightening.

    As far as wildlife, after I went to bed a few nights ago, my husband heard 2 fishers having a fight or trying to scare each other off right behind our house. If you've ever heard a fisher, you know how disturbing they sound. But I guess I'm happy our woodland and surrounds is supporting all local wildlife. My son & I saw a red spotted newt near the new walkway only a few days after it was installed, and I was so glad things weren't so disrupted it scared everybody away.

    Queen Gardener - I'd love to start trading. But I feel like I don't have anything useful to trade. I have oodles of seeds (who doesn't?), but a lot of them are getting old. I should have harvested some seeds from the plants I do have so I could get started trading. Next year, I guess. I agree, E-bay does have good prices if you can find the reputable people.

  • queen_gardener
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I thought I didn't have anything useful to trade, as well, but I was wrong! People want my zinnias and marigolds and whatnots! Seeds are the easiest to trade - some people use an envelope and wrap them (old card, card stock, thin foam sheet, piece of bubble wrap, etc.) and some people insist upon bubble envelopes, which come in all sizes, and people send seeds in those tiny jewelry ziploc baggies. Some people don't mind about old seed, either - they can last a few years. You might be surprised! But I was definitely helped out by some generous people who sent me extra seeds and seeds I hadn't asked for, to "get me started." I've even bought seeds on clearance and used them to trade. I just started this summer, and I'm well on my way to my dream garden!!! I can't wait to plant all my new seeds next year - the ones I can't winter sow, at least! :-) I'm trying that this year, too! A year of firsts!! I planted some green Jack, some black Jack in the pulpit, and a single Green Dragon seed - if it doesn't come up, that's OK, not sure I want it . . . I gave the rest of the Green Dragon seeds to a naturalist at a local park.
    String helps keep deer away, they don't want to get their hooves caught on it, so they don't jump it. Some shiny stuff and mylar streamers will help, too.
    I love King Fishers! They do sound . . . weird. But they're so pretty! I'm not really in the woods, there's just a stand of trees and undeveloped land behind us, but that's enough to have a fox, a hawk, deer, raccoons, ground hogs, coyotes, etc etc

  • mikebotann
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I make moss so I can plant it by mixing it with clay soil and making it into a stiff slurry, sorta like cake frosting. The more moss the better. I then throw it on rock walls and rock arrangements like outcroppings. Then smear it on with the back side of a flat shovel.....and walk away. The rains will slowly wash most of it away, but what remains in the nooks and crannies will grow. It's a good way to 'antique' a rocky area way faster than left to nature's own devices. Late winter or early spring is a good time to do this. There will be some cleanup at the bottom of the rock wall where it's paved, otherwise just let it blend in. That's what I did pictured below. I like the way the arrangement turned out so I'm going to be a little shy of covering it up with plants.
    Mike

  • Lynda Waldrep
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nice. I love moss, but last week while in TN I saw a man putting a heavy coat of lime all over his wonderfully wooded, mossy area. Sad. Many of us on this forum would love to have had his area.

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mike - Your moss is gorgeous! Interesting technique - do you keep it misted or anything?

    My soil is quite sandy, no clay here. I wonder if I mix the moss with compost, if it would work for me?

    I agree, very sad about the man who couldn't appreciate his moss.

  • mikebotann
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I live in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle. We have plenty of rain, but more importantly for moss, we have a lot of misty weather. Our summers are dry and the moss isn't near as green then. It sorta goes dormant. I have never watered that area. Sometimes I sprinkle dust on the moss to slowly build it up so it can stay greener longer in the summer. That way it has a 'reservoir' to draw from. Rain and mist gently wash it in. If the soil is too thick under the moss, weeds will grow, so it's a delicate balance. The dry months limits a lot of weeds that can survive in the moss. Since that area is several hundred yards from the house, I like the low maintenance of it.
    The picture was taken looking south and there are trees just above and behind the picture. That gives the area some much needed shade for the moss.
    The picture above was taken during the Summer. Below is in the Spring when water is flowing.
    A friend thought Primroses we be a nice addition. The slugs ate them right away. I told her! lol
    The link below shows some more pictures of my garden.
    Mike

    {{gwi:2119598}}

    Here is a link that might be useful: My garden

  • candogal
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mike: Your moss is really gorgeous - it's so thick & lush! It looks like the pictures I've seen on the websites of the companies where you can order moss. I clicked on your link, and wow! Your garden is amazing! How long have you been working on it? It looks like what I'm aiming for, someday - rich, full, lush, and a bit wild/natural looking. Your garden is a great inspiration!

    I live in New Hampshire now, but I used to live in Oakland, CA, so I understand the wet/dry seasons you get on the West Coast. I grew up in Ohio, so the difference in seasons took some getting used to.

    The snow from our recent storm is mostly melted, so my naturally mossy rocks are visible again for now. Here in New Hampshire, we have so much granite that most folks have large granite rocks or even boulders. Large parts of my yard are shady, and it's fairly humid here, so I'm lucky enough to have moss growing on many rocks. I bet I could take unobtrusive samples from the ones farther away from the house to try to colonize the new hardscaping. After I read your post, I read an article that suggested potter's clay. That might work for me, since my soil is too sandy for your idea.

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