Bryophytes
How To Grow Moss Between Pavers
If you want to grow moss between pavers, judge the light first: roughly four hours of direct sun a day is the ceiling for a shade moss like sheet or carpet. Above that use Bryum, which is what we sell as Sun Moss. Then water it regularly, and lower the pH with sulfur if you need to. Below is a guide with instructions on how to grow moss between pavers.
Paver joints are the one place Bryum beats everything else. It colonizes crevices and masonry, takes direct sun, and recovers after a dry spell. In shade, sheet moss is the better fill. For a long run of joints a moss milkshake goes further than sheets, since you are covering narrow gaps rather than open ground.
See Sun Moss for paver joints · moss milkshakes and starters
Choosing The Right Moss
Look for Pleurocarp Mosses and transplant between pavers, then water until they fill in; that’s it! See our blog post if you don’t know your Pleurocarp from your Acrocarp.
The best moss for between stepping stones in sunny areas is Bryum, sold as Sun Moss. Use Sheet moss if the pavers are located in a shady area.TIP: We have also written an article about How To Grow Moss Between Flagstones.
Sunlight Conditions
Pay attention to your sunlight conditions and match the species to them. Do not hedge by mixing several species and hoping one takes: acrocarps want to dry out between waterings and pleurocarps want steady moisture, so on one site with one watering schedule a mixture sorts itself out by killing off whatever does not belong.
Transplanting
Prepare the site by pulling the weeds between the pavers and filling it with soil.
First, you can wet the soil and the bottom of the moss to be transplanted. Secondly, pack the moss between the pavers and stamp it down with your feet or hands.
Make sure not to destroy the moss in the meantime, so be a little bit careful. This last step is necessary because otherwise, air pockets will remain between the moss and the soil and will prevent it from attaching to the surface.
Watering
Water it daily for three to six weeks until it attaches to the soil, then let the surface dry a little between waterings. Yes, the secret is out; growing moss takes only watering. Mosses are extremely drought tolerant, so they don’t need water to survive but need water to grow.
You will have to water the moss often in order to keep it green and happy. It won’t die without moisture, but it will go brown.
Mosses only perform photosynthesis when they are hydrated; otherwise, they happily remain dormant until moisture returns.
The key to establishing moss anywhere is to water how much and when; see our blog post on watering mosses.
Propagating
You might want to propagate moss instead of transplanting it. That is also an effective way of growing moss around stepping stones.
To propagate moss between pavers, you can follow the steps below.
- Take one cup of moss fragments.
- Take one cup of water.
- Blend it for two minutes.
- Pour the mixture between the pavers.
- Water it daily.
After 4-6 weeks, moss grows between the stepping stones. Congrats! You have successfully grown your moss.
Related reading: How to Grow Moss on Rocks, Wood, and Other Surfaces
Judge the light first, then pick the species. Bryum above four hours of sun, sheet or carpet below it.
Pending review by Olivia Milner, practitioner-scientist with a background in sustainability and education.