Here's an easy project to draw the eye into your garden. Home-garden expert Tammy Algood of the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service explains how to create a moss-covered chair to add interest to a shady place. Materials:
Wire chair frame
Moss
Newspaper
Bucket
Chicken wire
Fish emulsion
- Purchase an old wire chair frame from a secondhand store--preferably one that's rusted so moss can cling to the surface.
- Purchase sheets of moss, or dig it from your yard in spring or fall after a soaking rain.
- Soak strips of newspaper--the growing medium for the moss--in a bucket of water.
- Wrap the soaked newspaper strips around the frame of the chair (figure A).
- Cover the entire chair with wet newspaper, then cover loosely with chicken wire cut into 6" to 12" strips. This will keep the paper in place and support the moss (figure B).
- Using the ends of the chicken-wire strips, fasten the moss to the chair frame. Cover the entire chair with moss, unless you decide to leave one area open for detail. Gently poke the moss into the holes of the chicken wire to hold it in place.
- Once the moss has become established, it will cover the chicken-wire supports.
- To maintain your new garden chair, keep it damp at all times, and fertilize weekly with fish emulsion. Use a gentle fan nozzle on the end of your hose and a hose-end fertilizer applicator or a small spray bottle. You can't overwater this project.
With proper care, the chair can last for years. You can also display ferns in containers or colorful, shade-loving annuals such as impatiens on the seat.
GUESTS :
Tammy Algood
UT Agricultural Extension Service
5201 Marchant Drive
Nashville, TN 37211-5201
Phone: 615-834-5162
Fax: 615-832-0043
Email: Talgood1@utk.edu
Website: http://www.utextension.utk.edu
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