Kokedama

A couple months ago, I first noticed kokedamas. At least, I first heard of them by name. I finally looked them up, and stumbled across guidelines for how to make one. That kind of stuck in my head, and I had the vague idea of trying to make one later in the winter, when I could find moss. 

I didn't want to go buy moss, because a lot of the time it's ripped illegally out of forests where it doesn't always recover. But we always get some in our garden when it gets wet outside. A few days ago, I was pulling weeds out of my tiny native grass lawn (I want to make it bigger when I can afford more native grass seed!). I noticed that moss was growing at the edge of the grass. I immediately got excited about making the kokedama. Moss doesn't hurt your lawn. It just kinda creeps in if the lawn isn't very thick. But I used my fingers to comb out a pile of moss, which I put in a saucer full of water. I did research that night, and the next day I dug up a baby lemon button fern that had split off from the parent. 

Then it was time to make a dirt ball. After some sculpting, I made a beautiful sphere of potting soil. Then it came time to press a hole into it, and the entire thing fell apart. So I started all over. And because my moss didn't come in a solid sheet (no idea where they harvest/grow/manufacture that kind of thing), it was a beast to wrap around the dirt. But I finally strung the moss into a nice green orb around my fern. 

It turned out pretty nice! I don't mind if there are a few grass blades sticking out of it. Now we'll see how the fern fares in its fancy new home. It's getting a new frond, at least! 

So that's how you make a fancy planting arrangement without having to buy anything. XD Especially moss. If you read the book Gathering Moss, you'll understand (Though I guess I did buy the potting soil).