Question For The Gardeners Out There

[i canary]

I have gotten rid of most of the grass in my yard and have lots of garden plots. Most have brick borders/edging. At first I thought I would have stone paths between the plots. Then reality set in. That's expensive doings there. Anyway, I think I've come up with another solution: moss. I'm thinking if I can pull up what little grass I have in the pathways I could plant moss. What I don't know is what kind of moss would be best. Do any of you have any ideas? Or do you know of some reason why moss couldn't be used for pathways?

[BRUMI1968]

  i canary said:

I have gotten rid of most of the grass in my yard and have lots of garden plots. Most have brick borders/edging. At first I thought I would have stone paths between the plots. Then reality set in. That's expensive doings there. Anyway, I think I've come up with another solution: moss. I'm thinking if I can pull up what little grass I have in the pathways I could plant moss. What I don't know is what kind of moss would be best. Do any of you have any ideas? Or do you know of some reason why moss couldn't be used for pathways?

Different mosses have different levels of toughness -- so you'd want to do your research first. I think it sounds nice. Other options are landscape cloth and straw (which I did one year -- you get some weeds, but not many and they are easy to pull - isn't too good looking, though), coffee bean shells or chestnut shells (unless it is windy), bark (I don't like this option since I get slivers easily).

I think so long as you look up whatever varieites grow well in your area and find the toughest one, you should be fine.

[Nancym]

Where do you live? In some places moss grows like crazy. I think it likes dampness. If you use something like Scottish Moss... good luck. I didn't have much luck with it in So. CA. Probably too hot and dry here.

I just saw something on TV called "low-mow grass". I think it was creeping red fescue. You only have to mow it once a year. I was thinking of using that for a path. But you have watering issues. My other though was to use decomposed granite.

[kabowman]

You might consider creeping thyme. It is hardy enough to walk on and when you do, you have a trail of fragrance following you. It can take a while to really get it to look nice though. I had it at my last place but have not started it yet at my new house. I don't have a spot for it yet.

[DingoGirl]

or......another thing entirely, what about decomposed granite? It's not that expensive. I know, totally different from moss.....but I can't WAIT to get rid of the grass the dogs are ruining and have raised beds with DG around them.

Good luck!

[Generic]

Scottish or Irish moss works well, but like it was said it does like alot of water. The thyme is very fragrant, so that could be good or bad. If you are sensitive to smells then it probably isn't a good idea.

If you live wear moss grows vey thickly in the woods, on downed trees etc. it is a nice alternative. We have a very nice variety her in the NW. You can literaly peel it back in big sheets. Put it into trash bags, poor a little water in the bag and bring it home. As long as it stays damp the roots will remain alive. You can then lay the sheets out and they will reroot into the ground. That particular moss likes dirt that is very acidic, such as ground that gets alot of pine needles etc. As an alternative you can buy fertilizers that are acidic for that application. Just remeber moss will need a fairly frequent watering until it is well established and in dry summers.

-Laurie

[i canary]

To answer Nancym's question I live in Middle Tennessee. Three miles from the geographical center of the state (both n-s and e-w).

I like the idea of creeping thyme. I am a little sensitive to smell so I need to test that first.

Laurie I didn't realize that Scottish and Irish moss required a lot of watering. None of the research I did mentioned that. Thanks for letting me know. I'm staying away from that! And I like your idea of going to the woods. I need to find somewhere safe to do that. I'll have to see if any of my friends that have moss growing in their woods would be willing to share.