Anyone who discovers moss in a neatly manicured lawn often wants to banish it from the garden as quickly as possible.
It definitely has an advantage.
Moss, the enemy of fans of the perfect lawn.
It's inconspicuous, green, usually a bit damp and sometimes ends up in the crib at Christmas, actually moss hasn't done anything to us.
However, it shamelessly exploits weak points in the lawn and then spreads rapidly, usually it keeps coming back.
But is moss really as annoying as many think?
Moss in the garden: that's why it's not just weeds
Lawn care often begins in the spring with aeration and before that with scarifying.
This primarily removes thatch and moss so that the
grass can breathe again and grow vigorously
.
Moss is generally not very welcome in the garden.
Ironically, however, old moss-covered ruins, for example, are considered extremely pretty and romantic.
So it's all a matter of perspective.
+
Moss is extremely fascinating and not just weeds (symbol picture).
© Imaginechina-Tuchong / Imago
Moss in the garden: history and benefits of moss
Moss is far from a new plant.
On the contrary, moss has existed for over 400 million years and has thus prevailed significantly longer than people get angry about moss.
Above all, thanks to its spores, moss has a very
practical spreading
strategy and can therefore hardly be removed.
Mosses can also be spread over water, for example.
Mosses can be roughly divided into three lines:
Hornworts
Moss
Liverworts
They were the
first land plants
, also grow in rather inhospitable places and, according to
planet knowledge, have
a simple blueprint.
They keep themselves on the ground with rhizoids, they absorb water through the leaflets and accordingly like it moist.
Every garden fan with a shady corner will confirm that.
According to
Planet Wissen
, mosses usually lack vessels and supporting tissue.
It is unclear how mosses could develop from the algae in the water and live on land.
But they did and now they are there.
Whether we want it or not.
Actually, the age of these plants alone is a reason to appreciate them.
Gardening advisor
You can find more exciting topics relating to the garden at 24garten.de *.
Moss in the garden: advantages
However, according to
planet knowledge
, not all that is called moss is.
So the Spanish moss and the Irish moss actually do not belong to it.
Mosses can withstand extreme conditions such as cold or drought for a long time and they have another advantage: Peat moss can absorb around 26 times its dry weight in water, according to
Planet Wissen
.
In addition, mosses offer the following advantages for nature:
They store moisture
They are good bio-indicators: where moss grows, soil and air are good
They react very sensitively to chemical stress
They purify the air
They keep the soil moist and thus protect it from too much evaporation
Above all,
peat moss is
very important.
Moors play a key role
in protecting
the
climate
.
In such areas it is usually forbidden to take or remove plants anyway.
Incidentally, under the name Sphagnum-Moss (English), moss is also often used in the breeding and cultivation of house plants, as it stores moisture.
But moss also has health benefits, for example liverwort has a fungicidal effect and is used in various remedies against nail and skin fungus *.
Also interesting
: This is how you can save the bees in your own garden.
Moss in the garden: protected mosses and design ideas
Moss in the garden is one thing, but it is usually not a good idea to take it with you from the forest.
Because many types of moss are under
nature protection
.
In principle, you are not allowed to remove moss in nature reserves.
Otherwise, a small amount of moss may be collected if it does not fall under special species protection.
This concerns, for example:
Peat moss
White moss
Hainmoos
However, it can be difficult
to spot
the
species of moss
. We therefore advise against collecting in nature. If, on the other hand, you want to create your own small ecosystem with moss, you can do this wonderfully in your own forest garden. A forest garden is basically a forest area in your own garden, or at least an attempt. This is especially exciting because there is less evaporation, erosion is prevented and this garden is also very sustainable. In addition, the gardener benefits from all the advantages of a forest, such as the good air. Forest bathing at home, so to speak.
But even without a
forest garden
, you can leave a few small corners, stones or pieces of dead wood to mosses in the garden.
Birds also like to use moss to pad their nests and are happy about easy-to-find nesting material.
A peaceful coexistence is also easy on the nerves, because scarifying is a lot of work and has to be done regularly.
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List of rubric lists: © A. Jagel / Imago