Product Description

A delightful book that encourages gardeners to pay closer attention to the subtle beauty of miniature landscapes and introduces one of the glories of Japanese gardens into American designs. The author writes entertainingly of mosses on rocks and walls, in containers, and as a lush ground cover, and he presents a gallery of his favorite moss species.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #288613 in Books
• Published on: 1997-02-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 262 pages

From Booklist
Schenk, author of three other horticultural books, points out that traces of moss have been found in 400-million-year-old fossils. There are 15,000 living moss species, 1,200 of them in North America. Schenk defines the varieties of moss plants and follows with chapters on moss gardens in Japan (a garden in Kyoto was designed in the fourteenth century) and on gardens in Europe and North America. There are chapters on mossy rocks, moss carpets, alpine gardens, growing moss in containers, and the use of moss as ground covers beneath bonsai trees. Schenk lists approximatety 60 plants alphabetically by genus, with advice on propagating, cultivating, and transplanting. Includes 97 color photographs. George Cohen

Review
Read [this book] if you want to gain a healthy respect for and excitement about mosses. Joel M. Lerner, Washington Post, February 17, 2001 (The Washington Post )

Schenk has a gift of gab as great his gift of vision. He introduces his subjects enticingly, then starts to get technical ...Indeed, there is much more here than any one of us would suspect possible. The photographs, too, are amazingly varied, considering they are all of moss ...Schenk's book will open our eyes and instruct our fingers. His own dirt-stained hands are his offered proof of his right to write this book and a most convincing one. Ann Lovejoy, Seattle Times, February 1, 2000 (Seattle Times )

The book's best feature is its stunning close-up photography. High-quality color photographs by the author and others lovingly bring these tiny plants into view. These modest plants are anything but humble when seen close-up. For those of us who see beautry in a moss carpet or a lichen-covered rock, here, finally, is a book worthy of a place on the gardening shelf. Jim Bennett, Fine Gardening, January/February 1998 (Fine Gardening )

Ingram
Mosses tell an ancient success story of longevity as well as dispersion; they appear in fossils 400 million years old and total 15,000 species from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Landscaping expert George Schenk shows how to propagate and cultivate various mosses for rock gardens, as a lawn substitute, and for use in miniature gardens or containers. 97 color photos.

Customer Reviews

Esoteric, beautiful, reverent book for moss & lichen lovers
This is a beautiful book, and I treasure it. I've shared it with several others who value the green mosses and lichens of the outdoors and they were also impressed. It is high quality paper, every picture (abundant) is in color. The descriptions are thorough. It is a treasured book of mine, one of my favorites for information and for pleasure. The joy of moss and worts.

I Love This Book!
Lush photographes of excellent quality. Mr.Schenk writes with flair and wit and as though he is speaking directly to you, the reader. I can't get enough of this book. I want to memorize all of it's info. So much in such a tiny book and with such personality. {no dry science book of the 50's, 60's and 70's.}He gives you exactly what he said he would in his preface. Great read and lovely to look at.

encouragement to make a garden greener
An interesting look at a nearly unmentioned variety of gardening - that which attempts to encourage the growth of these tiny plants. As its cover advises, this is a guide for plant-growers, and does not depend on extensive knowledge of Latin names (although these must be used a bit in the lack of common names for almost all mosses). Growth and presentation of moss in various situations are explained, described, and shown in delightful photographs. This really is a hardcover book that any hardcover gardener will enjoy having, to answer the many questions about how to make hardy green carpets of mosses grow.