I solved the bird issue by using 50/50 leaf mould & composted manure in my beds on either side of my moss garden. The birds (especially robins) head straight for the mulch where they happily flip away looking for yummies thus ignoring the moss garden. I have to sweep back the mulch every day from the mess the robins make but it's worth it to save the moss.

I don't have an invasive problem because my moss garden is surrounded by cultivated beds and/or turfgrass. It's located under a mature Colorado Blue Spruce.

My moss garden is my favorite place on our property. It's a tapestry of several different types of moss that I had our friends bring from their properties. So, it's extra special to me.

Tricia

I don't have a problem with birds, but squirrels start digging up my moss in fall trying to bury their nuts. My usual squirrel repellent worked well--sprinkle cayenne pepper over everything. Moss will have a reddish tint for a while but it really works.

Tricia, What a brilliant idea to keep the birds away, unfortunately that wonÂt work for me this year but I will keep it in mind for next year. Over time have you noticed a decline in weeding or has it been consistent? Thanks
Veilchen,
I bet the moss looks interesting with a dusting of cayenne, I think I will sprinkle some around as a deterrent to skunks and squirrels. Thanks

The Year Of The Leaf
I have been for the last year or two attempting in vain to leave behind my compulsion for color in the garden and focus on texture and form. You would think that once you became aware of a gardening short fall it would be easy to change. Last year I started out with great intentions and even bought for the first time a few Hostas but to be honest the moment my plants began to bloom it was the flower that guided the design. Yes I know itÂs ridiculous the flower is often only present in the garden a few weeks when it is the leaf that carries the garden through out the entire growing season. So this year attempting yet again, I redesigned a back perennial bed with unfamiliar plants based solely on their leaf. In many ways I feel like I did the first year I ever planted a garden, (Malva ÂZebrina and alpine strawberries I was so proud!) knowing I am in way over my head but filled with the exuberance of new possibilities. kt
Oh did I mention I have decided not to work on my other compulsion of cramming too many plants in too little space this year Â.what fun would that be?

Katy - Careful - too much self-improvement is a dangerous thing; once you become perfect there's no point in carrying on.

With that in mind, I've given up on taming my plant lust this year, and am glad to hear you will be over-planting too; maybe we'll go down in history as the founders of an important school of garden design. The Crammers? I'm relying on a late start shopping and some upcoming travel to rein in my tendency to over-buy and over-plant, at least to the point where I don't need to fill the living room with soil and plant there.

>leave behind my compulsion for color in the garden and focus on texture and form.

I can't tell you how jealous this makes me. I am thinking I might be ready to start considering color; considering form and texture are *way* down the road for me. Two concepts that still dominate my planting plans: where might this plant be happy and where is there any space.

Oh KT,

I live on a low, damp, paritially shaded lot. I began gardening with virtually NO money and I began looking to those things that grew here "before" the house to give me inspiration. It was the BEST thing I could have done!

My favorite "perennial" is a FERN. NO "flowers". I learned early on that FOLIAGE is the important thing. Contrast bwtween leaf shape and color is KEY. So is the inclusion of ground covers, and the guidelines apply to them, too.

To this day, I select perennials based on their LEAVES. The flowers are as ephemeral as real whipped cream... it melts away and ought to be savored as soon as it's available. You can eat the cake anytime!

Leaves and foliage are the cake, and "where it's at"!

maybe we'll go down in history as the founders of an important school of garden design. The Crammers?
Oh dtd you know how much I crave the status of an important title, but I must confess I would be a little concerned that my biography might reveal the real truth of just how many plants have been crammed into my gardenÂ.and no one would believe it.

Contrast between leaf shape and color is KEY. So is the inclusion of ground covers, and the guidelines apply to them, too.
Chelone you raise an interesting point I do think that ground covers add a sense of maturity to a garden, much like moss on a rock but I will admit they scare me to death, having like many gardeners experienced the nightmare of the run away groundcover. To me groundcovers are a more permanent fixture in the garden than hardscape and I feel as though my gardens have not matured to a point where I have stopped moving things (poorly sited plants) around. Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.

The Rhododendron yakushimanum x smirnowii ron48 passed on to me at a swap a few years ago has matured into the amazing shrub he promised it would be. The best way I can describe it is leaf size and appearance of a yak but it holds itÂs leaves up right to display itÂs tawny fuzzy undersides, the display reminds me of Magnolia ÂBracken Brown BeautyÂ. It has an abundance of buds that are just appearing now for the first time so I have high hopes it will flower this year. Another pass along plant from that same swap that I am having fun with this year is the kiwi from dtd I have growing up along side some hops. The color and texture of the two together should be amazing, the challenge with this pair will be to hack back the more aggressive hops on a regular basis. The view out my kitchen window into DebÂs garden has changed dramatically for the better with a mature stand of Solomon seal from Cloud9. The Iris from both my sister in law and Chelone are have failed to bloom and after reading some great info on another thread I am going to dig them up treat if necessary and replant this year. So whatÂs happening in your garden??? kt

kt, it shows you are maturing as a gardener when you start to appreciate foliage rather than just flowers. I read that somewhere. The next phase is supposed to be acquiring an affinity for trees and shrubs.

And no, the cayenne pepper on moss doesn't look interesting, it looks ugly. But it works and washes off with the rain.

Thank you all for the interesting reading. I agree about the leaf shape and color being key. For a more intimate contrast, what about leaf texture?

One of the most interesting combos I have is knockout roses underplanted with wooly thyme mixed with various varieties of hens and chicks. The three different textures together are amazing. It can't be seen from far away but I have this on either side of my front steps and people notice it when waiting for me to come to the door or when seated at the front patio.

For keeping away critters, I use dried blood. It provides nitrogen to the soil but it also intimidates the bunnies/squirrels/skunks. I can always tell when I have forgotten a spot in a fresh planting area, because it is the only spot uprooted. I don't know what the extra nitrogen would do to moss, though.

Dried blood does work with some critters. Not with retrievers, unfortunately.

Paigect, I think wooly thyme complements almost any plant with shiny or green leaves. Aside from texture and leaf color, there's another factor, which I don't even know the name of, and that's how leaves reflect light - shininess?

Here's my fave foliage combination from last year's garden.

{{gwi:1075206}}

I liked the way the tiny, shiny corsican mint played off the slightly dull almost glaucous, larger and more complex shapes of achillea mollis. The fading hydrangea blooms are just icing.

Just got in from the moss garden. I am starting to agree with you about it being high maintenance. I just cleaned off by hand all the pine needles that have been falling on it from neighbor's tree. I thought the needles only dropped in the fall (which I cleaned up last fall), but I am learning that white pines are constantly dropping the occasional needles, which all fall on my moss. And I do know what you mean about weeding with two hands--after accidentally pulling out several clumps of moss when trying to pull a tiny weed. I did some serious edging to stop the grass from growing into it.

It is mostly cleaned up now and looks so pretty it is all worth it. I am ready to go get some more moss to fill in the rest of the bed. My moss garden is against the N side of our house abutting the concrete foundation of our garage. The gray concrete looked so stark that I had to get something to change the look. I ordered a length of bamboo screen from Gardener's Supply, had dh cut it in half lengthwise, and attach the pieces to the concrete to cover it up. Looks good. I chose the bamboo because I am moving toward an Oriental look, with a cascading J. maple at the sunnier end (and a tree peony that will need to be moved once it gets bigger), along with thalictrum at the opposite end. Hoping the thalictrum grows tall and droops over that end.

I am on the garden tour next month and I think people are going to love my moss garden! Either that or they'll think it's silly, as in "who would want to grow moss?"

My moss garden has gotten much easier to weed over the past 4 seasons. I only get the occassional stray violet seed sprouting now. Persistence pays off...

When the weeds were worse, I'd use tweezers to grab the weed while holding the moss down with my other hand. lol What a PITA! The things we won't do for our gardens, huh?

I'm constantly cleaning up spruce needles. They're itty-bitty & hard to sweep up. I'd been doing it with a whisk broom on my hands & knees. Hubby came along one day & took the leaf blower to the moss garden area. I almost freaked thinking he'd blow my moss to England. Didn't happen. A two second clean-up. So, now I don't hand sweep anymore. It gets spruced (good choice of words, huh?) up once a week now.

My moss garden is lined with brunnera, Virginia bluebells, omphalodes cappadocica 'Parisan Skies', hosta 'Sagae', ladies mantle, viola 'Freckles', maidenhair fern, Jap. painted fern, ostrich fern (they don't creep into the packed earth area of the moss garden), columbine, hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears', bloodroot, dicentra exima 'King of Hearts', & I've got several Oriental lilies mixed in with the tall ostrich ferns that manage to somehow bloom in the dense shade (?).

My favorite moss is cushion moss (leucobryum) that I purchased from Moss Acres three years ago. It's strange stuff...doesn't stay where I put it; but spreads when I'm not looking & walks around the moss garden. I began with half-a-dozen little clumps & now have about twenty-five clumps of the stuff. It's an indepenent little cuss; but so pretty with its silvery-white color.

The mature Colorado Blue spruce that shields my moss is also the entrance to my "Secret Garden". You leave the ribbon of turfgrass, duck under the drooping spruce branches & find yourself in the moss garden which leads you towards another dappled-sun turfgrass path that's lined with a Japanese hakone grass hedge (36 plants) on one side & rhoddies fronted with hosta on the other side. This path ends in another dense shade area filled with five huge 'Blue Angel' hostas surrounding a white pine that has hydrangea anomola 'Mirranda' growing up it...then into another curving ribbon of turfgrass this time lined with hydrangea 'Homigo' (8 shrubs) on one side & a sun perennial border on the other side. My hydrangeas are also underplanted with moss that I've transplanted.

And, that folks is my moss garden & its immediate surroundings. It's my favorite place to sit on a hot, humid day.

Tricia

"...and even bought for the first time a few Hostas..."
Heh, this is year #3 since I discovered not only beauty of hostas, but also their usefullness in practically every element of the garden design.
You could use them singly as just a filler or as a focal solitary plant, in a rows as a formal hedge, in a mass planting as a monoculture or ... or...or...
You could plant them in ground or in container, you could use or abuse them and no matter what you do they'll still be alive.
Variations in sizes, shapes of the leaves, colors, variegations, different tolerance to sunlight makes them undispensable asset in your never ending quest for the perfect garden.
One thing to remember, like most other plants, they reveal all their beauty only by year #3, so don't dispense something that is not ready to show you its full potential.
So far I'm up to 150+ plants of 25-30-something names, but I don't think I'm nearly close to say I'm done with them.

Oh, George, you make me feel so much better about my plant lust. 25-30 different hostas? Wow! I've never come anywhere close to that with any plant I gell in love with.

Triciae, your garden sounds divine!

I had the sad job of cutting down a Merrill Magnolia today. I left the one tiny branch at the base that looked like it was still alive, just in case. I mourned deeply for about 5 minutes and then started thinking how to redesign this area without the tree. What I love about gardening: life goes on.

George, there was a thread on the hosta forum last year or so about hosta in whiskey barrels. Very inspiring!!!

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0714541429327.html

veilchen,
Your garden sounds lovely and your treatment for the foundation was creative. I certainly am envious of it's location close to a source of water/electricity for ease in adding a water feature. Yikes...on a garden tour...part of me always wanted to be a fly on a wall as people walked through my garden there is always so much to gain from frank and honest insite, but I don't think my skin is thick enough.
tricia,
The picture you painted of your moss garden sounds very moving. I would love to see some photo's, perhaps this summer or fall if my moss ever settles in and becomes happy those of us interested in moss could do a thread.
The Dull/Shiny Effect
As much as I hate to admit it dtd's photo which was of course beautiful, evoked for me one of those Ah Hah moments. I have bordered a dog path with a small shiny leaved sedum that produces a thick carpet, scattered in this carpet I have been adding hens and chicks as much as I liked the contrast of shapes I knew something was off I just couldn't determine what it was until the photo of contrasting shiny and dull leaves made it very apparent. It's interesting how when one plant is on top of another the impact is much stronger, I doubt if I would have been bothered as much by companioning of two shiny plants if they had been placed side by side.
Drum Roll Please...I would like to announce the winner of New England Forum's most compelled plant collector...EGO is the winner for this year but I have a sneaking suspicion that there are a few others not far behind, so George you better run out and buy some more Hosta.

triciae, that sounds lovely. I think it was you I remember posting on this forum that you weeded the moss with tweezers last year, and every time I weed my moss I think of that.

There are groundcovers and then there are GROUNDCOVERS. It's the latter group that gives the more genteel members of the category the "bad name".

Vinca minor, Pachysandra, Ivy, Aegopodum... all can be thugs, but each also has a place in certain circumstances. There is breathtaking home across the street from my own and its dry, shaded driveway positively glows because of the drifts of Aegopodum. The handsome, glossy leaves of Pachysandra and Vinca minor are beautiful when sited properly.

Look, groundcovers are by nature "roamers", it's their JOB to cover ground... ;)

My favorites in my own beds? Asarum europeum, Gallium odoratum, Epimedium, and I also love Ajuga reptans and Lamium. When any of them oversteps their positions too much I yank it up to gain the upperhand. But the fact that it "piggy backs" into "virgin territory" with perennial divisions bothers me not one whit. If it displeases, I rip it out, but more often I like it.

And I'm very fond of contrasting the sheen of leaves, too. I love the glossier leaves, but they really stand out when there is something with less sheen "next door"... like velvet next to chameuse... . Perennials have relatively limited bloom time and therefore, I focus my attention on the leaves. (That's why I love Hostas, George!)

Fun discussion!

After expanding a shrub border into what was once lawn I spent yesterday laying down newspaper and mulch. I am always surprised by the sense of satisfaction this chore provides. Instantly the distraction of weeds, varied tree waste, and random dog toys, disappears and the eye is free to examine the garden in a more calming way. This brought to mind a question of what role do ground covers play in the garden. Is the best use of groundcovers to be a calming carpet of green that allows the undistracted eye to appreciate the garden in the same way mulch or lawn for that matter does, or are they equal players to the perennials, shrubs, and trees, and should be planted with the same companioning considerations given them thus likely creating a patchwork carpet? Do ground covers set the stage for the mood of the garden calm or lively? kt

LOL, Kt, those random dog toys may reappear along with the newspaper and weeds, if your dog is as determined as mine and has a good nose or a good memory. I love to newspaper over weeds, sticks and stones and all sorts of debris, but dog toys are a big no-no in my yard. No clue how he finds them ... but it's a tragedy when he does.

I happened on this thread again while looking for the name of the annual weed that's taking my garden by storm - the tiny little basal rosette with white flowers on wiry stems - so adorable until it chokes out everything in its path - anyone remember the name? Katy posted about it within the last month, I think.

And ... I was actually planning to find this thread again, because I spent some time looking out my windows early this morning and decided that for me, there is simply NOTHING that trumps COLOR. The intense colors out there at this time of year - from the strong blue of the early nepeta and camassia, the wild orange of the weed poppies, the brilliant yellow alyssum, to the kool-aid azaleas and rhododendrons.

It's like candy - it's simple, immediate, intense, fleeting, irresistible. I know you can't live on candy, but what a rush all this spring color is. Texture, form, reflectivity ... who cares, at this point, that is. Next month, it will be a whole different story. Oh, my teeth ache from it all.

Nan,
Being a candy-aholic myself I don't think I will ever be able to look at these spring blossoms without a hankering for something sweet, but as I continue my exploration with the leaf I am totally convinced that a well designed garden (which mine is not..but maybe next year..or the year after)the consideration of the blossom is at the bottom of the list.
That adorable little pest is ardamine hirsuta Hairy bittercress, I referenced this from "Weeds of the Northeast" Richard Uva, Joseph Neal, and Joseph DiTomaso, if any one on this forum has yet to add this one to their library I would HIGHLY recommend it. Included in the general description - A winter or summer annual, or occasionally a biennial. The postsense read In a mild climate, plants may over winter as rosettes, and Propagation suggested- Reproduction is by seed ; several generations may be produced in a growing season. I am would be very interested to know if anyone else in New England is as troubled by this weed as we are(it has now shown up in my moss garden), and if not this weed what weed or invasive plant gives you the most trouble?

Here is a link that might be useful: Photo of Hairy Bittercress

I am also finding it amazing that even in the most recently lightly disturbed areas Pokeweed is everywhere. Do these seed lie dormant for centuries just waiting for opportunity? Any one with pokeweed problems or info? kt

Thanks, Katy, I'm going to write that down this time. I'm trying corn gluten on it and will let you know how that works.

Mine definitely overwintered, but it seems like you could disrupt the lifecycle and eliminate the stuff in a season or two. I *hate* weeding areas overrun with these plants, the seeds fly out in all directions - and, they're pointy and sharp and actually hurt when they hit you. Ick. Yuck.

What I read about this pest is that anyone who doesn't have it yet will, soon, at least if they buy any plants other than bare root ones. It's infested the wholesale potting soil supply and can be found at just about any nursery that buys stock from off-premises. Cold comfort, I guess, but we're all in this together, or we will be soon.