The satsuki azalea community decided long ago what their preferred top dressing would be – mountain moss. Also known as yamagoke (“mountain moss” in Japanese), this moss is typically harvested in China and packaged in Japan. It can be used interchangeably with white sphagnum moss, but there are three benefits that make it popular for […]
Search Results for: moss
Moss technique
It’s common, when displaying bonsai at indoor exhibits, to cover the surface of the soil with moss. The alternative – dirt – doesn’t really compare. Scott decorated his Ponderosa Pine with a great arrangement of mosses and lichens at this year’s BIB exhibit. Moss on ponderosa pine Depending on where you live, you may have […]
Unwanted moss, or, Nomoto’s paradox
Covering bonsai soil with moss is a great technique for indoor exhibits. Covering your bonsai’s bark with moss is almost never a good idea. Moss weakens bark by keeping it moist. For trees on which bark denotes age – Japanese black pine comes to mind – moss can quickly ruin a tree’s appearance. In autumn, […]
Early spring work
If you ask me what my favorite time of year in the garden is, I’ll say early spring, right after repotting. It’s the one time of year when everything looks good and there’s little work to do. Or so I used to think. In recent years, I’ve found that spring is a busy time for […]
You just finished repotting – now what?
When you finish the last of the repotting – and breath a sigh of relief – it’s time to sit back and let the trees grow into their new homes. While the trees are busy sending out new roots, our main job is protecting them from the elements. The number one enemy is cold temperatures. […]