Garden Gleaned from a Neighborhood Project

Remember my post on the beautiful natural moss "gardens"? I took you through a property on Orcas Island that had wonderful padded swaths of various mosses. Well, I now have a carpet of moss in the corner of my backyard where I had previously laid a brick patio to support a Japanese Zen style garden. Let me tell you just how this "impromptu" garden came to life.

I live on a cul-de-sac that has a large center circle garden. It's been there for some 30 years. Our neighborhood decided that it needed restoration and updating. We contacted the city and got registered for their Neighborhood Match Program. The Neighborhood Match Program offers grants up to $5,000 for small neighborhood projects when matched by the community in cash, donated professional services, donated materials or volunteer labor. On Memorial Day weekend we took to the street and went to work.

Plants in our circle garden include Big Leaf Maple, Picea omorika, Junipers, and Abelia. With improper pruning, only seasonal rain water, and infertile soil, these plants were struggling. Moss, two inches thick, carpeted the north and east side around and under the tree branches. City ordinances restricted us from removing the "healthier" plants so basically we removed the Abelia and kept the rest. Once we began the work of removing the old bark on the shady side around the Picea, I noticed the moss was peeling off in large lushes green chunks...I just couldn't let it go to the yard waste! 

Reusing some of the old bark, I spread it in my shady garden under the drip line of a large Big Leaf Maple and around an existing reclaimed brick patio. Then I patchworked in the pieces of moss making sure each had good contact with the soil, and filled in any gaps with more reclaimed bark. Then watered well. I will keep it wet throughout the summer to insure that it gets a good start. 

www.mossacres.com gives detailed instructions on installing reclaimed moss.

Our center circle garden after all the work is done.

I procured deer resistant, drought resistant plants. 5 Arbutus unedo, 9 Lucothoe fontanesiana "Rainbow", and 3 Berberis thunbergii "Concorde". We pruned the lower and dead/broken branches from the conifers, removed the old bark, laid down new landscape fabric and laid new bark. We also received a $75 credit from the Neighborhood Match Program toward new locking mail boxes which were installed the following week. Visit your city website to find out if they offer such a program.