- Type: clove
- Flowering period: june
- Height: 1-10cm
- Color: Green, White
- Perennial
- Winters
- Sun loving
- Drought resistant
Traditional lawns need constant care, causing a lot of trouble to the owner of a country house. So that the color of the grass cover always remains bright green, the lawn must be not only regularly mowed, but also combed, fed, watered, weeding from the weeds that break through. In addition to the above operations, it is necessary to conduct aeration of the lawn, as well as to sow lawn grass in time on the warmed up and yellowed areas. A lot of time and physical effort is spent on lawn care, so many are considering an alternative design for open space. It turns out that you can get no less beautiful grass cover with the help of ground cover plants. Among the many types of data from representatives of the plant world, landscape designers especially distinguish the bryozoans of the styloid, which is also called the Irish moss. In nature, this beautiful and unpretentious plant can be found on the rocky slopes in Ireland. It should be noted that the bryozoans of the subulate are only called moss, but are not.
Why is this lawn good?
What is interesting about the lawn grown from this perennial plant? This question is asked by all amateur gardeners and novice designers who have not yet encountered the bryozoate awl-shaped in their practice. It turns out that a lawn grown from Irish moss has a lot of advantages, namely:
- grass cover is never mowed (this is simply not necessary, since the height of the bryozoans is awl-shaped only 5-8 cm);
- you can walk, run, jump on the lawn from the bryozoans without fear of trampling the grass cover (these types of effects only compact the coating and make it even more attractive);
- a dense rug-shaped bryozoan carpet leaves no loopholes for sprouting weeds (although some weed grasses can break through, it takes very little time to remove them precisely);
- the lawn from Irish moss does not need frequent watering, except for dry periods when all plants experience a deficiency of moisture, without exception;
- grows quickly without human intervention, so the damaged areas of the lawn are dragged on by new plants for a short time;
- during the flowering of a perennial, the lawn turns into a beautiful lawn covered with thousands of white dots;
- small-sized flowers exude an amazing aroma, filling the air with the smell of honey.
All of these advantages will turn into disadvantages if you confuse the varieties of a perennial plant and plant instead of an awl-shaped (white) bryozoan a bryozoan, which is considered a weed.
Blooming lawn from bryozoans pleases with its beauty throughout the summer period, while it is practically not necessary to take care of it
What does the bryozoan look like?
This groundcover is a cross between moss and grass. Unlike moss, it loves sunny and slightly shaded places. The stems of the plant are flexible, so they cannot be broken. Small leaves resembling soft and tender needles do not prick at all when walking barefoot on the lawn.
Due to the small surface area of the leaves, the plant saves water, preventing moisture from evaporating in large quantities. That is why the bryozoan bryozoan can calmly survive the drought, content with rare watering. Numerous shoots are prone to easy rooting, which contributes to the formation of a dense uniform carpet-like coating.
Flowers, consisting of five white petals, in diameter reach only 5 mm. Therefore, during flowering, lasting from May to September, it seems that the green lawn is slightly covered with snow. If you don’t walk at all from the bryozoan grass, individual plants look like small mounds. With regular walks and playing on the lawn, the grass turns into a flat carpet.
Methods of planting and breeding bryozoans
It is possible to plant bryozoan bryozoans with both seeds and pieces of turf cut from specially planted in nurseries plantations of Irish moss. Getting the lawn in the second way is much easier and, most importantly, faster.
This is what a standard seed pack of bryozoan (Irish moss) seeds looks like. The bag shows the main characteristics of this unpretentious groundcover perennial
Seed growing technology
Awl-shaped bryozoan seeds are sold in standard packaging. Each bag contains just 0.01 grams of seed. Despite the low weight, there are a lot of seeds, since they are very tiny. Bryozoan seeds are sown in late March or early April in boxes on prepared and well-moistened soil. Seedling boxes are covered with a film that they do not open until emergence.
With surface sowing, it is not necessary to cover the ground with seeds, otherwise they will not germinate. Some amateur gardeners fall asleep seeds scattered on the ground with snow, which melts, not only provides moisture to the soil, but also deepens the seeds to a distance sufficient for the best germination.
The photo clearly shows the process of planting small tufts of turf on a prepared plot of land in a sunny place of the garden
About a week after planting, tiny green needles appear, which turn a little later into small bundles of bright green bristles. Seedlings dive. In the last decade of April or the first decade of May, small tufts of turf are planted in open ground at a permanent growing place. At the same time, neighboring seedlings are located at a distance of 5-10 cm from each other. This free space will soon be dragged on by the rapidly growing shoots of this ground cover perennial.
In subsequent seasons, bryozoan seeds will be sown on their own, flying out of small boxes formed on the site of faded flowers of the plant. The lawn will be updated without your active participation.
Features seedlings care
Having planted seedlings of bryozoans of awl-shaped bryozoans in a permanent place, it is necessary to organize daily watering. It takes about two weeks to root the seedlings. During this period, it is important to provide young plants with sufficient water. Reducing the evaporation of moisture from the site, as well as protecting young plants from sunburn, allows a modern white non-woven material called spunbond. This light coating covers seedlings. To accelerate the growth of bryozoans, you can use complex mineral fertilizers that are applied to the soil immediately before planting, and then several more times during the season.
This perennial is winter-hardy, but in light winters it is recommended to cover the lawn with spruce branches. This will prevent it from freezing.
Propagation of bryozoans by turf
To create such a lawn by spending a minimum of time for this is possible with the help of small turfs cut with a knife from an already overgrown grass carpet. For this purpose, cut sods are laid on the prepared soil (loosened, freed from weeds, well spilled with water), trampling them underfoot.
If there are a lot of blanks, then you can stack them immediately close to each other, without leaving "bald spots". If there is not too much planting material, then we spread it on the surface of the future lawn at a small distance from each other (it can even be staggered). Free spaces will grow over time. Literally in a couple of months there will be no trace of them. Places where pieces of bryozoans were cut out are covered with earth. These donor sites will soon also be covered with shoots of Irish moss. Time will pass and there will be no trace of interference in the lawn.
The design of the plot of the garden in the form of a chessboard, where individual squares are planted with Irish moss
It is best to propagate the bryozoans with the awl-shaped vegetative method in spring or early autumn. It is not recommended to delay the terms of sod transplantation to a later period of autumn, as there may not be enough time for rooting plants.
Other Irish Moss Applications
Prytium bryozoans or Irish moss is used not only for growing an alternative lawn. Designers successfully use this perennial in creating rockeries, alpine hills, volume sculptures, rocky gardens. This ground cover plant and single bulb flowers (crocuses, tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, irises) are good at shading. A small space is left around the flowers so that the bryozoans do not “clog” them with their young shoots.
Irish moss is also used in the design of garden paths, planting plants between stone slabs. Also, bryozoans are awl-shaped, planting slopes that are inconvenient to mow using technology. This perennial is designed for resting places, because the plant is resistant to trampling.
The single-browed awl-shaped bryozoans resembles fluffy knolls studded with small white “stars”. This perennial looks good both on a large lawn and on small flower beds
Having become acquainted with such a wonderful and unpretentious perennial plant, many amateur gardeners will want to plant it on their site. After all, a lawn that does not require much care can be broken in any corner of the garden. For example, a bryozo carpet grown on a playground will surely appeal to children who like to lie on soft grass.
I would like to end this article with a slogan borrowed from a well-known advertisement: “Are you still mowing your lawn? Then we go to you! Together with a bryozoate awl-shaped, to rid you of this tedious task forever. ”
