Fun Garden Project

15 years ago

Last summer we were trying to decide what to do with a cheap, plastic garden table hating to take it to the transfer station. I came up with the idea to turn it into a garden based on seeing those wreaths wrapped in moss.

The top of the table is embossed with a floral design & had cut-outs. I soaked moss for about an hour & started smooshing it into the table cut-outs. Then, I topped with about 3" of our compost. Done.

The table sat under the spruce tree all winter & I waited to see what Mother Nature would plant for me.

So far, there's Labrador violets, a rose, rudbeckia, lots of moss, maple trees, a white birch, clover, & a few unknowns. I added the pottery & seashell. I picked up the pottery at auction years ago. I call them my "Inca Ruins". The jar of shells & sand under the table is to keep my little table from blowing away! DH hung my pitcher plant from the spruce tree over the table for the summer. The pitcher plant makes a perfect umbrella so heavy rains don't smash the fragile table plants. The moss medium stays evenly moist without suffering torrential downpours.

Close-up...

This one shows the jar of shells...

DH went to the marine salvage store here in town & scored about 30' of coconut fiber that he used to make a hanger for my pitcher plant...(Excuse the grass, we had the house resided last October & they ruined the turfgrass. We'll reseed this fall.)

There's a "secret" path that we had professionally pruned out of the spruce in an "S" shape to enter the rear gardens. This pillar & begonia mark the entrance from the other side of the garden. My little table is right on the other side of the tree. The sad looking maturing bulb foliage are English bluebells that bloomed back in early May.

Picture to give a bit of context to the table... I've been nuturing moss in this area for 7 years. I just cleared the area of spruce needles. It was already compacted & waited. It's slow going but working. The clumpy stuff is cushion moss. I'm letting a few Labrador violets grow around to help stop the robins from tearing it up. :)

If I would have known last summer how cool it would be I would have painted the table purple, or something, before filling it with moss. :( Anyway, fun things to do from a walker.

/tricia

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Comments (5)

claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
15 years ago
Very clever, and it makes a delightful little table garden! How many people get to say that they have to go out and weed their table?

Claire
defrost49
15 years ago
What fun and so lovely. Your whole yard looks interesting. Great job!
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diggingthedirt
15 years ago
Nice,triciae! And so nice to see what you've been up to!
pixie_lou
15 years ago
This sounds like a really cool project, and something that I will probably do. I have a 6 year old daughter, so this is the perfect type of project for her. The left side of our back yard is "hers" - (in addition to the trampoline, dome climber, sandbox) we have turned a downed tree into a planter, we are in the process of trying to get moss to grow on a set of concrete steps to create moss steps, we've built a tee pee out of old branches that we are trying to grow vines on. So a moss table would fit right in.

So before I go out and try to find an old table, I'm totally confused as to how to go about doing this. You start out saying:
"The top of the table is embossed with a floral design & had cut-outs. I soaked moss for about an hour & started smooshing it into the table cut-outs. Then, I topped with about 3" of our compost. Done. "

Please explain a bit more. I'm guessing that this somehow got the moss to grown on the table? But why the compost on top?

And the stuff growing - that is just what mother nature planted? Nothing you planted yourself?
triciae
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi pixie lou,

Yes, I used the dried moss as a base coat on the table. If you look at the 2nd picture at the table's leg...the top has similar cut-outs. I smashed the moss into those cut-outs to anchor it securely. The compost was to provide a light weight "soil" substitute.

The only plant I added is the ivy on the right growing in the little "Inca Ruin" pot. The pot is about 1-1/2" across & doesn't have a bottom so the ivy's rooted into the table. It's one of those "Stepable" miniture ivies...can't remember the exact name? It's been extremely durable for me in another area of the garden so I figured it had a chance in the little pot. I just took a cutting, rooted in water, & planted. Everything else was planted by Mother Nature. It's been a lot of fun watching to see what sprouts. Somehow, things that would have been weeds in another area have become treasured plants on the tabletop. Gives me a refreshed look at New England's diversity.

/tricia