Mossy Garden

[tomwakeman]

I'm taking the 'organic wildlife approach': Off my patio, there is a shaded area with a wildlife pool and stepping stones leading away. Around the stepping stones, there used to be grass, but moss has gradually replaced this. The problem being, that the soil is clay and very uneven, and is often water logged, getting muddy in winter, running down to a drain. I like the mossy look, because there are also lots of ferns and bluebells growing, so it does't need to me mowed, but I want to even the ground out and get rid of all the muddy, weedy patches. How can I level it out and get rid of all the weeds, whilst retaining the ferns and bluebells? I'm wondering whether to wait until the summer when the ground has dried out and try to sort it out then. Thanks.

[WendyS]

The soil is probably too wet and boggy to do much work on it at the moment but you can probably help get rid of the waterlogged areas but simply putting in a gardening fork as deep as it will go across the whole area and wriggling it around a little to create some drainage holes.. We do this with our lawn which occasionally develops boggy areas and it helps. Longer term you will need to break the clay up a little by adding in some sand or compost but if you add too too much you might run the risk of losing some of the moss and the moisture loving ferns.