Live Moss Centerpiece DIY

A better title for this should be something like:

The Secret Life of Moss

Moss is one of those strange and wonderful plants that we often see on a hike 

in a dark woodlands area

It also may be growing on the side of an old shed or an old tree stump.

It is not a fungus and is actually beneficial to most gardens 

so if you have some enjoy it!

It is a plant in the simplest of forms lacking roots and leaves

It reproduces by sending out spores from little stem like blades that grow on top of the clumps.

In my never ending search for interesting plants

 moss is currently at the top of the list!

It is usually associated with terrariums but personally I love it unadorned and out in the open 

where you can brush your hand along the top.

So for this project I started with a simple large wood vessel 

and 3 one gallon bags of live moss

I had this shipped from a grower but most floral supply stores carry this and occasionally you can find it at the nursery.

As you can see it was harvested right from the forest floor.

Moss is sort of like living compost 

Many of the tutorials that I looked at recommended gravel as the base for your moss garden but I tried to mimic the actual material the moss would have been found on: 

a combination of pine needles, small sticks and leaves and a mix of decomposing soil .

To support the soil and keep things tidy 

I started by gathering some large plastic trash bags and forming them into a nice mound.

Staple your plastic or use heavy duty duck tape

I soaked my rich soil well, played a layer over the top of the plastic and then carefully unfolded and stretched the moss 

along the top and down into the edges of the bowl

This is my first attempt and it looks rather one dimensional
but even simple projects are a learning curve!

 The arrangement above is wonderful and my next bowl will contain more varieties and shapes

Here is Martha with her moss gardens in beautiful antique Faux Bois bowls she uses throughout her home at Skylands

I added a few little ceramic mushrooms...just for fun

The only real requirement to keep your moss alive is an occasional spritz of water 

and somewhat low light

So even for those that are convinced they have 

a brown thumb 

 you can do this!

Hope you give this a try...

it's a really an easy and  relaxing one hour project...

and the perfect way to start your early fall decorating!

xo

Classic Garden Style

I think it's official

Spring is here 

 Time to dream about our garden plans 

 Lovely antique urns and bright summer lawns

 Beautiful gravel pathways 

 A spot for birds and frogs

 A place to nurture the small seedlings 

 To take us on a walk under shady vines

 A spot to sit and think

 To gather and grow

 To make friends and share a laugh or two

 A spot to relax 

 To smell the scent of roses

To gather beautiful cuttings for a vase

 Old things are at home in a garden

 Our garden tools are cleaned and stored 

in a rustic shed

 And the colors and textures of the garden 

are there for us to enjoy

 A garden is a simple thing really and can be as wonderful 

as anything you can dream about

Enjoy your weekend and welcome Spring into your garden

All photography by Christian Sarramon

from the book

Classic Garden Style 

written by

Ines Heugel

French Cocotte Herb Garden

This is a little project...just in time for the weekend

 I found this cute vintage French cocotte or bean pot 

Most that I have come across are a pinkish terra cotta and have a fully glazed interior 

which makes them a  perfect container for flowers or in this case herbs

 I tucked in some parsley and a little red lettuce

 some mint for my tea

 thyme for the omelets 

 just use any thing you like

 they don't last forever but when they start to fade 

I plant them out side into the "real" garden

a nice little green for the kitchen...and useful too

Cheers, Kelley

Herb Garden

 My vegetable garden is a large area of raised beds, 

fruit trees, grape vines and of course lots of vegetables and herbs

 I have six raised beds made from stacked stones all found here on our property.  

Each bed is about 8 x 10 feet and supplies us with an endless assortment of vegetables 

through out the year.

I usually mix herbs in with the other veggies and still do that 

but I decided is was high time to give the herbs a lovely little spot all to themselves

 I like the idea of adding height to a bed by using pots and barrels.  In fact, I like pots scattered about the yard in interesting ways to keep the garden playful and to add color into the mix.

For those that have read this blog for a while you may remember when I planted the lavender garden. Part of the design was to incorporate these inexpensive wine barrels and fill them with flowers

The barrels are filled with geranium now and bloom almost continually throughout the year 

 The lavender is just about ready for it's first bloom of the year

 Here the geranium filled barrels are peeking above the lavender

OK.....now back to the herb garden

The urn shaped pot in the center is filled with creeping oregano.  It can be planted as an ornamental but you can snip it off and use it in your sauces etc.

Another small decorative idea I used are these 2x2 stakes place in a grid pattern 

and topped with tiny vintage green house pots

The pots actually tend to keep 

the squirrels and raccoons out of the beds

The raccoons have played with the pots on a couple of occasions and I have found them broken in the morning but they have yet to actually climb into the bed and dig around.

I saw this idea on an English gardening website 

and though it was pretty ingenious

The herbs are all placed symmetrically and include 

sage, oregano, lavender, society garlic, rosemary and 3 or 4 varieties of thyme.

Society garlic (tulbaghia) is a perennial with pretty lacy purple flowers.  

The leaves have a really onion-ey smell and can be cut and used in cooking.  

They make a pretty cut flower for arrangements too

The oregano is great in sauces or just tossed into a salad mix

The thyme varieties were planted all along the edge of the bed 

and then criss crossed diagonally

I'm not sure if I will let the thyme spill over the edges 

or try to keep it neat and tidy...what do you think?

Either way...it smells heavenly and it is one of my most favorite cooking herbs.

I have used thyme in my large pots of color along our driveway too 

and it flowers with delicate lavender blossoms that cascades over the edges of the pots.

I really like this herb garden!

You could try this in a very small yard too

or 

how cute would this look along a walk way at your front entry?

Have a great week

&

Happy Gardening