Fort Moss

[centaura]

Well, the rodents (fill in the blank with any small, furry, destructive animal - chipmunk, squirrel, etc.) in my backyard have finally pushed me over the edge. Every year I try to propagate nice moss so that I can decorate my trees for a major show that I exhibit in in August, and every year the rodents pick the nicest patches of moss that I plant and destroy them. Well, this year I'm trying something new: Fort Moss (think Fort Knox - good moss is more precious than gold, isn't it?). Fort Moss is a complete barrier of window screen, totally inclosing my growing tray with my moss in it. I cut a piece twice the size of the tray, folded it around the tray, and used some old pieces of aluminum wire to "sew" the edges together. Now, I'mg going to leave it out and observe. I will report back if this barrier will be enough to actually allow moss growth without it being instantly destroyed by something small, furry and annoying.

-Cat

[BillsBayou]

That looks like a good moss cultivator. I wonder if the screen helps to keep it moist due to it's capacity to hold water.

My first thought would be to use tomato netting. It might be a bit easier to staple into place. I'm not sure if your local rodentia would just chew through plastic netting, however. Yours may be the correct course after all.

Are the little beasts eating the moss? Maybe they're using it as bedding.

[centaura]

Well, right now the screen has been on for a week, and so far the moss is still there.

I wonder if the screen helps to keep it moist due to it's capacity to hold wate

I used a metal screen, so I'm not sure that its going to hold any water, but I am curious if it will provide bits of "shade", like an overhead arbor can, during the day. That I'm not as concerned about, the moss that I get is full-sun moss, the kind that gets nice, tight foliage. I don't want it to get leggy.

Are the little beasts eating the moss? Maybe they're using it as bedding.

I almost wish they were doing something productive with it, so I could at least justify why my moss gets destroyed. But, what they typically do is just dig it up, so I come home from work and the chunks of moss are all scattered about, dried out. So far I've gotten them to stop biting the barks of bonsai trees by putting out bowls of water on my benches, but I'm not sure what they're looking for/doing with the digging so I don't know how to distract/accommodate their need in another way. It doesn't seem like they're burying anything, and they are definitely bee-lining for the mossy parts of the tray. I once had a tray that was only half full, and they left the half with no moss completely alone - it was pristine all summer long. But the side with the moss had the moss flung off it every day until the pieces were too dried to try to resurrect. If you ever see an online business start up selling chipmunk skins and squirrel tails, you'll know that I've completely lost it at that point.

-Cat

[mboatman]

I" had" really nice velvety moss. One pot was from my driveway, the other was found in south carolina dried up. They both grew and expanded across the flat trays they were in. Oddly enough two days ago i go out at 630am as always to check the trees and yad, the tight firm healthy irish green color of the moss were destroyed. Something dug them out and threw beneath the pots. Its war, lol. The neighbor told me that he has seen an old black cat "marking" at my benches, skunk, and a few raccoons. I set out 2 live traps and it trapped a cat. A fat matted black haired alley cat. Really fricking stinky and agressive cat. Its no longer with us(sorry but i dont mess around) i dont think it was going to be easy to remove him alive without it attacking me anyway. So far, the problems i have had was moss damage, something digging into the pots, and knocked over terra cotta containers with various species in them. Lost a few decent smaller trees but thankfully nothing that was sentimental was lost. I actually never thought of utilizing screens. Good idea!

[centaura]

Its war, lol.

It went beyond war when they dug up some freshly planted accent plants earlier this year. I had just potted up some nice accents into real pots (verses the plastic they were bought in), and then some nuisance goes and trashes them. Bench filled with accents, mames and shohins - so tightly packed they must have had a hard time even walking along it - and they go and dig up the freshly potted stuff that hadn't had a chance to get rooted and established. I swear they wait for me to leave for work in the morning, so that the roots of whatever they dig up has the most amount of time to dry up and die before I get home that night.

-Cat