by George Buehler

By now you should have all your trees out in the sun. Hopefully you hardened off the tropicals you had under lights or on the window sill. Don't forget that the average last frost date in our area is May 10, so we may still have that cold snap and the tropicals (as well as some of the more tender trees) will have to be brought in or protected in some way. Watch the overnight temperature predictions carefully and be prepared to respond.

Now is a good time to go out and get some exercise and look for the moss you will need for your trees. You would be surprised where you can find it at this time of year. Look for wet areas where you think the soil is of poor quality. Once you find it, you can use a ‘putty' knife to slice up the moss. If you get some of the regular dirt, not to worry. When you get it home, you can work out most of the dirt using a hose. I don't try to remove all the dirt, just most of it. When you put it in your bonsai pot and water throughout the summer, more of the dirt will wash out; and, in my experience it will eventually fl ow out the drainage holes. Collect a variety of types, if you can - smooth, rough, etc. When you place the moss, try to use a variety of types.

I try to ‘grow' my own moss from the various types I collected. I also purchased some moss spores and grew some in an unused bonsai tray. I have ‘planted' some moss under some of my bonsai pedestals where it will get the ‘runoff' water from the trees. Over the winter, it seems to have dried out but probably will rejuvenate when it starts to receive daily water again. This is one of the strange things about moss, it may look dead but actually is just in "hibernation". You can take some of the moss that looks dead, grind it up and sow it again and it will normally come back to life. Some people recommend using buttermilk to paint the surface of the planting media. I haven't tried this, but that probably is to make the media more acidic.

Moss isn't a very particular plant in that it doesn't like good soil – the poorer the better. Our normal clay soil that is prevalent in this area works fine. I don't think it needs any fertilizer but if you do, use the acidic type and about two or three times during the summer.

Dave Bogan, editor of the Evansville Bonsai Newsletter reports that he has a bed of about 30 square feet of moss growing. He says that he periodically sprays the moss bed with RoundUp® to kill any grass or weeds. He says that the weed killer doesn't hurt the moss at all. He has found out that moss doesn't like the competition from weeds and when you first start growing it, you will need to remove the rocks, weeds, etc. from the area where you plant it. He sprays it with an acidic fertilizer several times a year.

So get out there and enjoy the spring weather (if it ever gets here) and collect that much needed moss.