My first moss garden

     I constructed my first moss garden in June 2006 in my Japanese-style garden.  It was a failure.  I took moss off a cedar shake roof on my neighbor's shed and laid it on mounds of loam soil, amended with aluminum sulfate and elemental sulfur to reduce the pH to acidic conditions.  By late fall, the moss did not look too good, and it had not attached itself to the ground (with attachments called rhizoids).  The following January had several days in the 50s, so I collected some other mosses about a mile north of my gardens and laid them on the mounds.  These did much better.
     Over the years, I added other species of moss, often to replace moss that was not doing well.  Today, there are about six species of moss growing there, and it looks nearly perfect.
     I added Thalictrum dioicum, or Early Meadow Rue, and Podophyllum peltatum, or Mayapple, to add another dimension and interest to the garden.
     The bench nearby had some mosses colonize it (without my help) about three years ago, mainly Brachythecium salebrosum and Plagiomnium cuspidatum.  It covers more of the bench each year, and I figure it will cover it completely in five years or less.