Moss FAQ: Light Requirements

If you have moss on your property:

Do you consider this a shady location? Is it on the north side of your house? Is there abundant trees providing a canopy of shade with only intermittent dappled sunlight? Consider the light that it receives and using this as a guide you can transplant moss to areas that are similarly shaded.

If you do not have moss on your property and wish to grow moss then understanding moss and its light needs is critical. Start with this general assumption that most moss does best with no direct sunlight per day. Zone 4 and lower have sufficiently lower temperatures and higher humidity that moss will grow with more than 2 hours per day of sunlight.

We cannot assume that the north side of a house or tree does not get sunlight. The north side of a building may still get sunlight from the East in the morning and from the West in the evening. I have had two moss gardens on the north side of my house but both of them are right up against the house and have some obstruction blocking direct sunlight of the early morning and late afternoon.

If you live in an area of frequent rains and higher humidity moss can do well with more sunlight.

When we see moss in the woods remember the woods almost always has higher humidity and usually has more shade than the garden areas of our yards.

There are more than 2000 species of moss in North America. Many of them can thrive on several hours of sun a day but they are the exceptions.

The general requirement of no sunlight seems a severe restriction for anyone who wants to keep moss. You can look at it that way, but that is the glass is half empty syndrome. Or you can consider that moss will do quite well in dish gardens indoors or on enclosed back porches. Since you donÂt have to water moss, only mist it every two to three days indoors and if you forget to water for a week moss doesnÂt mind then low light requirements can be an advantage. And remember outdoors where grass cannot grow moss can.

You can see two examples of the best garden mosses at the link below.

Leucobryum glaucum which is commonly called the pincushion moss or the silver cushion moss is a shade moss. Give it shade, moisture and an acidic environment and it can grow rapidly. Generally this dense moss grows 2 to 4 inches tall

Bryum argenteum or the silver sidewalk moss can tolerate four to six hours of full sun a day and is considered to be one of the best bonsai mosses. Bruym argenteum is a common sidewalk moss about three eighths of an inch tall that most people donÂt recognize except under moist conditions as it is in this picture. This moss I scraped off the concrete alley behind an old shopping mall in Galesburg, Illinois in April 2006.

Here is a link that might be useful: Moss Album