mayhem then moss

What a week! We’ve had entirely too much excitement around our house and I am glad to have those days in my rearview mirror. While we were left safe and reasonably sound, many were not and they are in our thoughts and prayers.

I have to say, however, the end days of the week were absolutely lovely and almost worth the anxiety of the storm warnings. Is there anything better than temperatures in the 60s with the sun shining? Darren and I even found pleasure in sitting in our garden and pulling weeds. One drawback of feeding the birds all winter long is the discarded seeds, which quickly germinate in the spring. Yet, the seedlings are oh so worth dealing with while listening to a birdhouse full of chickadees as they await the next feeding from their parents.

So the gardens and lawn are looking lush and lovely. I hope we can keep them that way. Last year was so dry—it was hard to keep-up with the amount of watering it required. My favorite thing about all of the wet weather, however, has got to be the moss which is taking hold on our patio. Yes—I’m one of those. I love to see moss growing between pavers or beside a path. Darren has acquiesced and was even heard saying that it was filling in well. (He didn’t say he liked it, but at least he didn’t bend over and pluck it out!) When he first began laying our patio, my first thought was of the wonderful times we’d share with friends and family, but my second was of the moss that I would encourage to grow!

What is it about a moss covered patio? I think it’s like most other things I prefer to have around me—it feels comfortable, carefree and aged. I don’t like worrying about water rings on coffee tables. I like stacks of books and magazines within arm’s reach of any chair. I like plants to intermingle in the garden and I like moss to grow on our patio. I consider an orderly house representative of time misspent.

Of course, our old house and building are anything but “carefree;” in fact, they have both provided Darren with an endless list of chores. Wet, stormy weather seems to bring many needed home repairs to light. Nothing can do damage to wooden structures like water can. Roofs and basements will leak and gutters runneth over. Darren is slowly working his way around the house, scraping old paint, repairing damaged siding, corbels and finials, but has paused for the storm damage repairs. I think we have a love/hate relationship with our old structures . . . I love them, he hates them!

If you’re a moss lover, too, there are several methods for cultivating moss in your garden and on your patio. I found the following information on the web at: gardening.about.com. Moss does best in shaded, moist locations—in fact, it will not grow in a location that gets the hot afternoon sun. To start it in the garden, it’s best to transplant a piece of it from another location. It must be kept moist for several weeks. You may need to pin it down or hold it in place with several small stones. If your trying to encourage moss on your patio, you can mix-up a recipe of 2 cups of buttermilk or plain yogurt with 1 ½ cups of chopped-up moss (fresh or dried). Once the mixture is well-blended, you then paint it on your desired surface. Allow to sit for a few days, but you should start see a mold like substance followed by the moss!

I think I’m going to try that recipe on a few terra cotta pots I’d like to age. I’ll let you know how it works.

Here is a picture of the pots on the bottom of my “potting shelf.”  As it turns out—they’ve take care of the moss cover on their own!  I still plan to try some on my own.

Thanks for your indulgence.