Moss thrives in the cool, damp weather that we enjoy from December through early April. Just as the winter world resolves into shades of grey and brown, bright patches of green moss appear to catch the eye and brighten the spirit.

As we walk through the yard or drive through the winter woods, evergreen plants sparkle in the winter sunlight or peacefully glow through the misty gloom. Their presence reminds us that while most plants are resting and dormant, life goes on.

It has been so wet this winter that we find mosses, and their close relation, lichens, in unexpected places. While lichens are a combination of fungi and algae, with the algae providing their green or grey tint, mosses are simple, photosynthetic plants. They are so simple that they have no real roots and no flowers.

Mosses anchor themselves in place with rhizoids, which are much simpler than vascular roots. Moisture moves through moss from cell to cell without any system of veins. This allows mosses to absorb and use dew, frost, rain, and even a good spray from a garden hose. Misty fog makes mosses very happy.

Mosses can grow on most any shaded, porous surface, anchored by their rhizoids. This includes vertical surfaces like the bark and branches of trees, masonry walls, and steeply pitched roofs. Different moss species have different preferences for what they grow on, and some surfaces simply won’t support moss.

Many mosses prefer acid or neutral soils, but some can grow on cement, limestone and brick. Some professional moss gardeners start their colonies on sheets of felt like material, which they later anchor to the ground they want to cover in a solid sheet of moss.

My own experiments in growing moss on sheets of felt were less than impressive. Even those sheets that gathered a good covering of moss looked and felt awkward in plantings. We are fortunate that moss will grow directly on our soil through much of the garden. I’ve been encouraging moss covered paths in all of our shady areas.

While we will sometimes find clumps of fern moss kicked up where a deer has passed, especially if they were running across a mossy area, we haven’t seen deer grazing any of the mosses we grow. Perhaps you have heard of ‘reindeer moss.’ We have patches of it growing in this area, usually beside the road at the edges of woods.

You’ll find it in craft stores and it is sometimes used in terrariums. ‘Reindeer moss’ is actually ‘reindeer lichens.’ It is a symbiotic ‘plant’ that contains both fungus and algae, and it is highly nutritious. Not only will deer, reindeer, moose and other animals graze on it, particularly in the winter, but chefs have experimented with using it as a flour substitute. It can be eaten as a survival food. Think of it like a specialized mushroom, but boil it to remove some of the acid, as it can cause stomach upset.

As I look out at our early February garden, I admire our evergreen shrubs, a few Hellebores coming into bloom, the elegant lines of bare trees, a few evergreen ferns, emerging bulb leaves, and the beautiful green carpet of moss growing beneath them all.

Moss spreads itself around very efficiently, by blowing spores, where conditions support it. I still help it along by moving bits and pieces to bare soil. The pieces can be pinned in place with a small stick or a florist pin, but can also be pushed firmly into place with the sole of a boot. Moss doesn’t mind getting stepped on. The pressure of walking on it can help the rhizoids connect with a new patch of soil. As a clump of moss grows and spreads, the new growth will anchor the plant, but it is still a very shallow attachment. It is easy to pull up a small piece to move elsewhere.

Encourage moss to grow and spread by keeping it clean and clear of leaf litter and by keeping it moist. I use a leaf blower, set on a gentle setting, to blow away leaves and small sticks so they don’t block light to the moss. Sometimes small clumps will blow up, which can simply be pressed back into place.

Moss is very effective in preventing erosion on sloping ground. It also sequesters carbon from the air, as it contains carbon stored in the soil. Evergreen plants continue to filter the air and release oxygen year round.

I sometimes water our moss during dry spells, especially in the summer when we haven’t had rain. The moss fluffs up and looks greener and springier almost immediately. The moss would grow even without this special attention, but it tends to shrivel and shrink when it dries out. Finding wide swaths of moss growing wild along the roadside proves that it is very self-reliant. But it looks better, year round in our garden, with this simple attention.

Mosses and ferns, the simplest of plants, are also the simplest plants to grow in a shady, wildlife friendly garden. I always enjoy their beauty, and grow them with confidence, knowing that deer will leave them alone. They grow better and spread more widely each season, adding an element of wild beauty to our garden throughout the year.