Buttermilk Moss Milkshake Update

Unlike me, moss has no problem with winter cold.  The moss I spread around our flagstone pathway a year and a half ago has continued to fill in during this winter, starting to grow again each time the temperature reached above freezing.

  There are a couple of type of moss - maybe more - growing together between the flagstones.  I don't know the names, but there is a feathery, larger type (above center) and a more compact type (above left).

Some areas have filled in almost completely (above), while others are just getting started (below).  I read that moss really doesn't like being buried with leaves or other debris.  Raking didn't work so well, as I kept detaching clumps of moss, so I used my leaf blower to clean off the path after the trees dropped their leaves last fall.  I have read about sweeping moss clean, and maybe I'll try that after my moss is better established.

I was worried that some parts were too sunny for moss, but it is finally starting to grow throughout the whole path.  It's a good thing the moss is in my backyard, because my neighbors would be even more convinced that I'm crazy if they could see me crawling around the path, muttering to myself about how well the moss is growing.

Some patches are reproducing on their own.  Above you can see some of the sporophytes sticking up, ready to release spores and make more moss!

To read about my original buttermilk moss milkshake project, click Here.  I have repeated the process a couple of times to keep encouraging the moss to fill in everywhere, but I still think it's easier than planting a hundred groundcover starts all around the path.