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(birds chirping)
[DARREN STRENGE] I always had a
special interest in moss.
There's always been something
something alluring about it to me.
I think has to do with its primeval nature.
I guess you could call it a garden underdog.
I think it's it's one of those things
that people don't go to the nursery
to buy a new moss for their garden.
They want the showy flowers, the pretty tree.
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In the moss garden, one of the
maybe not so obvious themes, is in some respects time.
That's why when a tree falls in the moss garden,
we try to incorporate it as part of the moss garden.
We have about 50 species of mosses
that we know of here.
Probably one of the most common is Menzies’ tree moss.
Let’s see if we can pull out.
It's called tree moss because it's got a trunk like a tree.
Then the leaves at top,
kind of like a small palm tree.
I would say every moss is my favorite
moss, but this is definitely one of my favorite mosses.
(car honks)
[KELLY BRENNER] Once you
broach the world of moss, it’s just this an endless fascination
because just a tuft of moss
is entire world to a whole host of organisms
that are microscopic.
It’s literally like
an entire world in just one tiny clump of moss.
So I am sitting up here on top of my garage roof
because this is where all the moss grows.
And I'm going to
collect some of this, these clumps of moss.
I take that moss
and then I soak it in water.
The next day,
I squeeze the water out
and then I look under the microscope.
And usually what I'll find are a whole host of organisms
like Tardigrades,
which can survive in space.
Rotifers, which also can
survive in space, but they're not as cool looking.
Every clump of moss is like going on
an entire wildlife safari, right.
Just from my own rooftop,
with all the different organisms that live inside of it.
I'm a wildlife gardener,
which means I'm a very lazy gardener.
So I don't fight moss. I embrace it.
I don't actively try to grow it, but I don't
discourage it either.
So out on my tree, there's moss growing all at the side.
I have a great stairway
going to the basement
where I've let all the moss grow.
And it's just beautiful.
There’s little ferns growing out of it now
and it's just a little tiny garden
growing in our in our basement stairwell.
[DARREN STRENGE] The moss in itself can be a specimen, so to speak.
They can have open areas with moss.
They can have rocks that are mossy.
It looks better than bare rocks.
Just adds a lot in terms of softness
and greens and texture
and just makes the whole area look a lot more natural.
[KELLY BRENNER] Living in the city can be very
disconnecting from nature, but here we have
a whole ecosystem that you can preserve
and observe and
and care for and just be completely fascinated by.
If we just let nature
exist just a little bit in our yards and our buildings.
♪♪