A moss garden that needs wild harvesting is not self-sustaining
Evidence
The courtyard garden at the center of the house was Matt’s first concern. He walked a little taller through the lush green he’d created. Every manner of tropical plant was there: birds of paradise, orchids, tree ferns. Paving stones made a path completely carpeted by Mnium. It was a spectacular array of feathery green as smooth as the mossy lawn of a Japanese garden. He’d been having trouble keeping the moss alive and constantly had to go back out to the woods to get more to maintain the unbroken surface. So we spoke of water chemistry and soil conditions as he scribbled in his notebook. I was feeling useful at last, giving advice on matching the right moss species to the garden environment so that it might naturally regenerate itself. I cautioned him about the ethics of wild gathering. The woods shouldn’t be a nursery for his garden. His garden would be successful only when it became self sustaining. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 514
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Objects become authentic only through use, not through display — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 511; A managed woodland yields an educational harvest that owners often fail to reap — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 265; Old-growth moss mats cannot reestablish because only young twigs offer footholds — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 614 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Stripped moss beds regrow only centimeters per year on smooth mature bark
#corroborates(0.88) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 613 - Old-growth moss mats cannot reestablish because only young twigs offer footholds
#complicates(0.85) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 614 - Folk recipes for growing moss rest on real fragment regeneration
#corroborates(0.72) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 524