Making more of moss

Making more of moss

- Anne Swithinbank

Q I am about to pull up sheets of moss growing on damp, north facing concreted areas and rake some from the lawn. Is there any good use I can put it to, or shall I add it to the compost heap? Gemma Carty, Malton, North Yorks.

A Starry, spiky, spongy or feathery, mosses are simple ancient plants that love to grow in damp, humid weather. In all but the drier parts of the UK, they tend to flourish from autumn to spring and die back in hot summers, sometimes rehydrating in autumn and growing again from spores. Instead of a proper root system, mosses anchor themselves with thread-like rhizoids and absorb all the water they need through their leaves. They are ‘non-vascular plants, meaning they don’t develop special tissues for transporting water and nutrients.