Miniature Moss Garden

A Tiny Streambed Less Than A Foot Square

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A shallow bonsai dish, with drain holes in the bottom can make the perfect little landscape.

Miniature moss garden - a tiny streambed less than a foot square...

The many types of moss that is native to my garden can be tiny and fine textured, some looks like little ferns, and others still are a bit larger scale.

Moss doesn't need much soil - some will even grow on rocks, with no soil, or on old carpet; its only requirement is dampness.

Shiny polished rocks emulate a creekbed, and the larger rocks look in perfect scale for the tiny landscape.

This technique of making tiny gardens has been a popular artform in Asian countries for centuries. Called 'Penjing', it takes the best of what nature offers and renders it in tiny scale.

It celebrates scenery with rocks to make cliffs, pebbles to look like streams or beaches, and moss or other tiny plants to give it life.

Once the moss gets established, this will be a multi textured carpet...

Multi textured carpet of different kinds of moss - there are many that grow around my property, so finding the ones that don't mind this type of planting is easy.

The one larger rock is one of many I find in my garden; they have pores and holes, perfect for encouraging the growth of moss.

Who would have thought only a few rocks and a bit of moss could look so good?

Watering is important; moss will go dormant or even die off if the moisture levels aren't kept up.

This is one container that will have to be kept in the shade, so it never has a chance to dry out.

However, moss is a very easy going plant - even after being dried out, it will green up again once conditions improve. See more about growing moss here.

As time passes, the moss fills in and becomes more established...

Several months later, even with mostly benign neglect, this little garden required only a tiny amount of cleaning of pine needles and leaves and it was ready for its close up;