AusBonsai

I am growing an appreciation for moss.... just moss.

Always on the lookout for moss, I find it in various places, nooks and crannies ... and I love applying to my bonsai. It's wonderfully beautiful stuff and forces you slow down and look closely... it's making want to macro lens and proper camera ...

I might get a book to learn more. Does anyone have any book suggestions?

Also - feel free to add photos of moss herein. Here's some from my phone walking around earlier this arvo.

From Forsoothe on bonsainut
'There are thousands and thousands of kinds of moss. Unfortunately for non-bryologists, we can't tell the difference between the different species, but it doesn't matter. I bought two handbooks on moss, "MOSSES, And Other Bryophytes", by Bill & Nancy Malcolm, which is probably the definitive manual, especially if you routinely use your microscope, and "Moss Gardening", by George Schenk, which is book about using the different mosses in different applications of gardening. You buy the first to study moss, the second to use it in horticulture.'

Great post if people want to read the rest, its post 34

https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/moss.36584/page-2

Hey SquatJar,
Thanks for the link to the Forsoothe! thread. I really enjoyed that thread and appreciate the information. The recommendation to match moss to the condition and substrates upon which it is found is pure logic - yet often in the past, the daft unit being (me) has just banged it in a setting that is completely different ....sometimes with ok results, often with dead moss.
Cheers,
Mark

Moss ... yep, I like it!
Here's a few phone shots I took of some of mine...

One of my ‘zen gardens’ . ‘

Sno wrote: ↑October 21st, 2019, 11:02 am One of my ‘zen gardens’ .

Nice Sno ... I love the fact you have a 'zen' garden integrated around a stand with a big warning sign on it - helps to take the edge off I guess!

Cheers R3 and Sno. R3’s post made me laugh as I was thinking something very similar. I am also envious ... Sno’s warm enough to wear thongs (on his feet ) ... I wish, not yet - too cold in Melbourne - albeit Wednesday is looking warm.

It is probably still pretty cold up Sno's way. If you lived in alpine conditions year round like he does you'd probably think current temps pretty warm too

Nice Sno ... I love the fact you have a 'zen' garden integrated around a stand with a big warning sign on it - helps to take the edge off I guess!
[/quote]
Yeh it’s a pretty cool feature . The stand is an electric hot water tank chopped up ,normally I burn all my old steel stuff to get the rusty look but it was such a unique element that I had to keep it .

MJL wrote: ↑October 21st, 2019, 3:17 pm ... Sno’s warm enough to wear thongs (on his feet ) ... I wish, not yet - too cold in Melbourne - albeit Wednesday is looking warm.

Mark you have to toughen up , it was only zero this morning .

Whoa….!
Whilst meditating intensely at a photo of Sno’s “Zen Garden” on my small laptop, I completely forgot what this thread was all about!
However, my inner eye is open and my heart has blossomed!

…..something about moss?

Lovely stuff folks. Gotta a love a good little mushroom too. It is making me want for a macro and a lensbaby .... (Hmmm.. MelB perhaps?)

Sno...I'm clearly not tough enough I'll leave 0 degrees and thongs too you!

Hi Mark ,I collect this Moss each time I visit my parents in the Riverina. Grows on bare red clay ,baked by 40 degree heat in summer and frosts in winter. Tough as old boots. Beautifully thick and with the right watering looks great. John.

Hi Mark ,I collect this Moss each time I visit my parents in the Riverina. Grows on bare red clay ,baked by 40 degree heat in summer and frosts in winter. Tough as old boots. Beautifully thick and with the right watering looks great. John.

G'day John, How cool is that. I am learning the great variation in micro-climates that different types of of moss grows in. Hey, what tree is that you pictured there? It's has a magnificent trunk line! Cheers, Mark

I bought two handbooks on moss, "MOSSES, And Other Bryophytes", by Bill & Nancy Malcolm, which is probably the definitive manual, especially if you routinely use your microscope, and "Moss Gardening", by George Schenk, which is book about using the different mosses in different applications of gardening. You buy the first to study moss, the second to use it in horticulture.

Hey SquatJar, Thanks for the references to the books too. I have started to search for them. There is also one on Australian mosses that interests me too. Hard to come by but as the saying goes, you never know your luck in a big city.

Hi Mark ,the Tree is a twisty old Kunzea .A long time project ,shortening the roots has been a real pain.
Looks like your collection is getting bigger by the day ,now Moss. Hope you don't run out of room.. John.

Your moss passion might be heightened with this instagrammer

https://www.instagram.com/terrariumdreams/

John, I love that moss, I get similar from my backyard and my neighbour's front desert... caked hard clay soil that produces the most wonderful velvet looking moss when it rains....otherwise it's in full sun during the day, from dawn to dusk!