Moss heaven

Ever since I've moved to CT, I've just fallen in love with the terrain out here. The damper climate allows all kinds of mosses and lichens to grow, something I never saw much of in Minnesota. Here are a few pics from my garden. Look at the pillow of bright green moss on this old granite step, and look at the gray lichens on the step above.

Here's a view of the end of the stone wall. Look at the pillows of moss growing right on the rocks. I've been reading up, and apparently moss has little or no roots, and gets most of its water and nutrition from the air and rain.

Look at the moss and lichens on my ancient twisty apple tree. Under here is where I want to have a real moss garden, like in Japan. OK, no goofy statues and stuff, just a soft carpet of various shades of soft cushiony moss. I've been "grooming" the area, raking off leaves and stuff, which prevents the moss from getting air and water. Now I go out every nice day and hand pull out some grass. Maybe someday I can walk barefoot on my beautiful moss garden.

Here's my new favorite book:

Native Mosses Ferns and Grasses by William Cullina of the New England Wildflower Society