Mossing trees for a show…

This is a post from the Internet Bonsai Club By Marcus Watts from the UK about mossing your trees to get them ready for a show.

stage one begins with a food blender / processor – I have the old one for jobs like this Laughing

fill it with sphagnum moss – this is fresh moss collected in the autumn, chop it up very fine, dried orchid quality sphagnum works well also but you need to add some water.

once you have enough add water to make a sloppy moss soup

start adding the soup to the pot. The water drains through and you get a nice even and smooth layer of very fine sphagnum moss

Now you add the preferred top layer of moss, pressing it down into the moist under layer. This holds each piece in place as well as providing moisture from underneath. Doing this keeps the moss looking really fresh and the tree benefits too from the added humidity. I wanted a solid moss finish rather than patches here and there but made it from different sizes, colours and types of moss. This gives an interesting surface with several textures.

job done. Finally i added a piece of netting to the top to keep the birds from ripping it all off

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6 thoughts on “Mossing trees for a show…

    • In this case they were collected from a shaded area of his roof. It is always a good idea to keep your eyes out for places near you where moss grows so you can collect it when needed. I have areas in my yard where it grows well, but I also watch for nice patches wherever I go.

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