A field guide to the bryophytes
The quiet green that carpets the world
Mosses are among the oldest land plants alive. They have no roots, no flowers and no real plumbing, yet they thrive on rock, bark, brick and bare soil where almost nothing else will. I am Rowan Hale, and Mossbank is where I write down what I have learned growing them, killing a fair few of them, and slowly getting the identifications right.
What is moss
The biology, the strange life cycle, and why a plant with no roots can live on a roof tile.
Common species
The mosses you will actually meet in temperate gardens, woods and walls, with photographs.
Growing moss
Shade, damp and patience. How to start a moss lawn, a wall or a pot, and keep it alive.
Projects
Kokedama, terrariums, bonsai carpets, living walls and the slurry method.
Uses
From peat bogs and carbon to wound dressings and pollution monitoring.
Moss & lawns
Friend or weed? Why moss appears in turf, and how to either banish it or lean in.
Why bother with moss
Moss asks for almost nothing. It needs no mowing, no feeding and no digging. It greens up in winter when everything else has gone over, holds water like a sponge, and softens hard edges of stone and concrete in a way no other plant manages. The trade is patience: moss keeps its own slow time, and I have learned the hard way that the surest way to kill it is to keep fussing.
It is also a quiet ally in a warming, drying climate. A moss surface stays cooler than bare soil, slows run-off after heavy rain, and provides cover for the small invertebrates that the rest of the garden depends on. Once you start noticing moss you find it everywhere, and the noticing is half the pleasure. Everything here is written from that habit of looking closely, checking the name twice, and only then reaching for the watering can.