Moss Terrarium

Recently, a friend introduced common-woman to the concept of moss walls. Always a moss appreciator, a bit of research revealed an uptick in interest in decorating walls with living or preserved moss. While a mossy wall sounds beautiful, a smaller moss project sounded more doable. I’m trying it with an old, clear cookie jar with a lid. I’ll revisit moss once this takes off! For now, here are easy to follow how-to instructions and image from dengarden.com

How to Make and Care for a Terrarium in a jar with a lid. Thanks to dengarden.com for the image and instructions.

Once you've gathered your supplies and moss, you're ready to set up and care for your terrarium. Here's how to do it:

1. Line the bottom of the bottle with small pebbles. You'll want this layer to be 1-2 inches deep to provide proper drainage.

2. Add the dried sphagnum or peat moss on top of the pebbles. This layer will only need to be thick enough to completely cover the rocks.

3. On top of the dried moss, arrange a layer of damp potting soil. Since mosses do not have traditional roots, the layer of soil does not need to be very thick. A half-inch of soil will be plenty.

4. Arrange the small clumps of moss and decorations as desired.

5. With a spray bottle, gently mist the terrarium until a thin layer of excess water develops in the pebble reservoir. Finish by loosely placing the lid on the jar.

6. Situate the finished terrarium in an area that receives 1-2 hours of indirect sunlight, or under artificial lighting.

7. Watering should only be conducted when no condensation forms on the inside of the terrarium. Under normal conditions, a light misting should only be needed once every 1-2 months.