mossing for the show

I just thought I'd share the way I moss the pots for a show so it stays looking perfect, stays in place and maintains enough humidity through the days of travel, set up and exhibition.

With the upcoming Noelanders approaching fast I got the ladder out and collected some nice moss from my roof and today spent an hour dressing the Hinoki.

stage one begins with a food blender / processor - I have the old one for jobs like this


fill it with sphagnum moss - this is fresh moss collected in the autumn, chop it up very fine



once you have enough add water to make a sloppy moss soup


start adding the soup to the pot. The water drains through and you get a nice even and smooth layer of very fine sphagnum moss


Now you add the prefered top layer of moss, pressing it down into the moist under layer. This holds each piece in place as well as providing moisture from underneath. Doing this keeps the moss looking really fresh and the tree benefits too from the added humidity. I wanted a solid moss finish rather than patches here and there but made it from different sizes, colours and types of moss. This gives an interesting surface with several textures.



job done. Finally i added a piece of netting to the top to keep the birds from ripping it all off

I would love to see photos of where, on your roof, you collected the moss
Thanks,
Todd

I read about this on your blog today, Marcus.

Nicely simple and elegant 'solution'. Wish I had thought of it - seems so obvious now.

Thanks!

Birds attack , the fear that keeps me awake before exhibitions !!!!

Finally! A good use for my food processor, which I only use once or twice a year! Sounds like a great way to moss!Shall try this year, thanks,kora

Nicely done Marcus.
My moss comes from the asphalt road, I figured if it can take the heat of asphalt and on a road, well life on Bonsai soil should be much better - chuckle.
Later.
Khaimraj

Todd Ellis wrote:I would love to see photos of where, on your roof, you collected the moss
Thanks,
Todd

haha - ok, i will take a picture . i got a ladder to the garage roof then stood here and used a fishing rod to knock the nice round moss balls off the roof - as they rolled down i tried to catch them before they fell all the way to the ground and broke !!! 100% honest truth... the funny bit Todd is the bits that remained out of reach looked really good ! the grass is always greener they say.....................

Ive put moss in the blender before but never tries making soup out of it (or daquiries).

Twisted Trees wrote:Ive put moss in the blender before but never tries making soup out of it (or daquiries).

i told mandy it was soup.............she cooked dinner that night

Haha, what a lovely natural "glue". Still waiting for the picture of your mossy roof!

Mike

mikebonsai wrote:Haha, what a lovely natural "glue". Still waiting for the picture of your mossy roof!

Mike

oops, forgot about the roof - will do

So, does this technique work with any kind of moss? I see that you specified sphagnum; I don't know my mosses, but I'd like to try it with whatever kind of moss I have on my property.

redbeard wrote:So, does this technique work with any kind of moss? I see that you specified sphagnum; I don't know my mosses, but I'd like to try it with whatever kind of moss I have on my property.

I think you misunderstand. Moss you have on your property would go atop the chopped sphagnum. The problem with bonsai soil is that it doesn't retain enough moisture on its surface to keep the green moss you find alive.

Aha! thank you for setting me straight. I'm going to try this tomorrow!