K.A. Rutledge

Shambhala,

Don't put moss on your soil surface unless you are showing your tree - or showing it off inside for an evening like for a dinner party or something. *As a rule, bonsai are grown with a bare soil surface and then moss is added to the soil surface the day before the show. *After the show, the moss is removed.

Get your moss locally from where it is growing naturally. *Check around office buildings, malls, etc... where there is an automatic watering system and an overabundance of moisture. *Collect it there and keep it at home in something of the same conditions for your own use. *

Use it by breaking off or cutting small pieces (the size of a 50 cent coin) and assemble them on the soil surface. *The moss will go on best if you first remove about 1/4" of the soil from the surface, add a covering of sifted sphagnum moss and then water it to make the spagnum moss sticky. *Place your moss on top of this layer and fit the pieces together tighly. *

Be sure to remove it after you "show" it. *Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
Editor, TBE Journal http://www.bonsaienthusiast.com