Does anyone know anything about gardening?

I love my Felco secateurs, just like my grandad and my mum

That’s a pretty strong love for some secateurs

Perhaps some kind of massage device

Foxes keep moving my potted plants around, relocating them, knocking them over, digging in them and occasionally biting/snapping off the plants. It's quite annoying. Not so much shit though.

One nicked my daughter’s juice carton earlier. So now she’s put bowls of water out because “foxy is thirsty”

Perhaps some kind of massage device

I completely misinterpreted this and thought you were making a recommendation for something Sparky could buy for his foxes :D

Get them a la-z-boy lounger and a hot tub, maybe some nice tickets to a West End show

So my wildflower patch is just 99% poppy, but not the worst thing

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Ours is 90% borage, at least the bees like 'em

I've done something stupid...

I've been trying my best to cultivate a lush and carpety moss lawn on my extremely small and shaded apartment garden. I decided to take decisive action and pulled all of the weeds and grass that were sprouting between the patches of moss and then removed any and all debris I could from the area to clear the way for the moss to spread...

This was all good until I decided I would try to "fertilise" the moss and knowing that moss appreciated acidic soil I googled ways to acidify the soil...

I have spread iron sulphate all over my moss before realising that iron sulphate is an extremely effective moss killer and I've effectively committed moss genocide.

My question now is how do I get back on track to get moss going again in the area? I reckon I might have to resort to transplanting some moss from the woods nearby but how do I deal with the fallout zone of iron sulphate I've created?

Help.

Can you buy moss in rolls like turf?

I think you can but the only options I've fond locally are for terrariums so small quantities and expensive...

I could probably scavenge some from the tree areas at my folks house though...

Very much doubt you'll be able to successfully transplant wild moss

There is a story about this in the excellent book Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer. She was essentially employed as a moss consultant for some billionaire building a stately home type garden and basically concluded that the only way that works is nature doing its thing.

I've heard lots about making a yoghurt/moss slurry etc but not ever seen any claimed successful results

But in your case, not least because the iron sulphate is most likely still there? Any idea how long it will take to degrade or wash away

Any idea how long it will take to degrade or wash away

That's my big question... it's a small area though so if I need to take action to rectify it I certainly can do whether it's covering with a layer of peat/ soil or adding something else to neutralise the iron sulphate...

I just don't know what that is though?

The main reason why wild mosses won't transplant successfully - or this is what I took from that book anyway - is that there are gazillions of different types and they are extremely well specialized to their very particular environments. You will get many different types growing on the same rock or tree based on exactly how much light or moisture it gets in that specific position. So if you just dig some up from the forest, the chances of recreating the correct conditions is slim

How did you encourage your moss lawn the first time round?

It actually started on its own... it's only a small area of about 2-3sqm and when we moved in the lawn is in horrible condition and the moss sort of started to appear... it was quite patchy though and was filling in a lot slower than I'd have liked which was the cause for my foolish attempt at helping it along...

Astro the lot

There’s probably not a quick way to get it back but if the conditions you had before were what the moss liked it will probably return.

Seriously though, just water the fuck out of it, and forget about it until next year.

Odds are there aren't any interventionist methods, even less so this time of year so do what you can to wash the iron sulphate away.

This ^

With an emphasis on "the forget all about it" bit.

Patio starting to look alright

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Compost bin getting full again so need somewhere to empty it so wanted to remove the path down the right hand side of the garden and double the width of the current bed.
The plan was to remove 3 pavers at a time for the next 4 bin empties. Removed the first 3 today. That path is the only thing that's been done well on the property as it took 9 rubble sacks full of rubble till I got down to the clay. Huge ammount of effort in the baking sun. Will dig the compost in some time in the next few weeks.

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Geraniums may be a bit basic but they are bloody good aren't they

Don't think I know of anything else that makes so much impact for so little effort, and is so tough

Planted this as a 9cm plant last year, in an unpromising shady spot, in poor soil. Watered once then never again. Never fed. 1x cut back of any remaining straggly foliage in late winter (although it had mostly disappeared). Apart from that, I have totally forgotten about it. And it's been flowering like this for a month or so already

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Don't forget the geranium "Chelsea Chop" :)

Looks great. Looking to paint my fencing, the dark looks great on yours. Might do the same!

Love this. Might try.