Grow Your Own Moss

If you love gardens filled with mismatched pots, weathered sculptures and richly textured blankets of moss, then you will love growing your own moss.

Emma
3 March 2015

Did you know you can grow your own moss and it is really easy! Moss is great for giving things such as new statues or walls, an aged, shabby chic feel. Moss can make things feel as if they are part of the garden and have been there forever. I have included some great examples of where you could grow your own moss further down but the possibilities are endless.

What You Need:


Moss	A Blender	Two cups of Water	Two cups of Butter Milk	A Paint Brush

You will need Approx. 5in x 5in sample of moss dead or alive from your garden or purchased from a nursery.

Instructions:

Pour the water and buttermilk into the blender
Add the moss
Blend until you have a thick milkshake like consistency and the moss has separated.
Paint or pour the mixture on where ever you want the moss to grow. You can even write things on walls, the possibilities are endless.
Keep the moss moist for the first couple of weeks; using a mister is great for this.

Notes:

Moss usually grows quicker in shady areas.
Within about 3 weeks you should start to see some growth.
If you are going to paint shapes or letters you might want to use a template.

Man painting moss onto a wall in the shape of a lizard

moss growing on a wall in the shape of the word grow

It really is that easy to grow your own moss. Have you done anything like this? Please do share your pictures with us on our Facebook page.

Happy Growing!

N.B. This article has been written for Australian gardens. If you're reading this from around the world, we do hope you've found it a useful stepping stone for your own further research.

Comments (11)

where to get it
Just wondering where you can get moss from (close to Newcastle NSW) Thanks
Karen, 16 August 2016

Weeds
I have a bricked patio but there are weeds that grow in between the bricks that we constantly try to get rid of. Will the moss fix that problem or do I need to deal with the weeds first and if so, any suggestions?
Megan Johnson , 9 July 2016

Hoselink Response
I would recommend removing the weeds first, we have a few suggestions here: https://www.hoselink.com.au/blog/war-of-the-weeds/ Once the weeds are gone then growing moss would help to prevent them coming back.

Length of time to germinate?
I am a bride looking for a "special touch" for our wedding in 3 months. However, I only now found this process to make a unique monogram. How long does the germination process take before the slurry-covered areas would be fairly thick (considering, of course, we provide optimum growing conditions)? Also, would muslin (lying flat during germination) be an advantageous foundation? Thank you for any insight!
Bethany Lingenfelter , 6 May 2016

Hoselink Response
Unfortunately it's probably not quite enough time to get a really good covering. Moss is relatively slow growing and different types of moss are slower than others.

Awesome!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I see a lot of moss when I visit my daughter in Melbourne and I think it looks gorgeous ( sort of English country garden ). Living in a hot area you don't see it so will have to give this a try one day! :D
wendy cassidy, 19 March 2015

Great idea
Thanks so much for a great idea, am building a new house shortly. Going to have a few retraining walls and it sounds like a great way to personalise my new area
Paul MacGregor, 18 March 2015