Moss in the Garden

Morris Arboretum & Gardens is hosting a class on mosses and bryophytes on Monday, November 16, from 2 PM to 4 PM. It's held in the Upper Gallery of the Welcome Center in Chestnut Hill, and it's led by Trevor Schulte, the Azalea Meadow Horticulturist at the Arboretum.

Most of us treat moss as something that just happens—a green carpet that takes over a shady corner of the yard or a damp stone wall. This class looks at it as a subject in its own right. Schulte walks through the common mosses you'll find around here, the techniques for propagating them, and how to actually garden with moss and its relatives rather than just letting them do their own thing. It's a deep dive into a division of the plant kingdom that usually gets overlooked.

The second half of the afternoon moves outdoors, where the talking stops and the doing starts. You'll get hands-on experience transplanting mosses yourself, so you leave with a practical sense of how it works rather than just a list of facts. If you've ever wondered how to move a patch of moss from one spot to another without it dying off, this is where you'll figure it out.

The class is open to the public, though priority registration goes to those enrolled in the Arboretum's Certificate in Ecological Horticulture. If you are in that program, completing the course counts toward your certificate requirements. It runs from 2 PM to 4 PM on Monday, November 16, in the Upper Gallery of the Welcome Center at the Morris Arboretum & Gardens in Chestnut Hill.