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ProEnvironment
ProEnvironment 8 (2015) 80 - 84
A Review
Moss: Decorative and Ecological Potential in Landscape
RADU Dana Mălina1,2, Dieter TRAUTZ2, Maria CANTOR1*
1
University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Horticulture,
Manastur Street, no 3-5, 400372, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2
Faculty of Agricultural Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück, Am Krümpel,
no. 31, 49090, Osnabrück, Germany
Received 10 March 2015; received and revised form 15 March 2015; accepted 20 March 2015
Available online 29 March 2015
Abstract
Integrating moss in landscape design as much as ornamental and arboretum plants is an important phase in
landscape architecture. The present article is about the decorative and ecological potential of moss species. Finding
solutions to develop green areas in cities and to decorate gardens with moss, sustains the perpetuation of these species
and helps improve the environment. Amongst these, the following species present high values in landscape architecture:
Polytrichum formosum, Dicranums coparium, Plagiomnium affine, Ceratodon purpureus, Hypnum cupressiforme,
Tortula ruralis, Bryum argenteum, Grimmia pulvinata, Thuidium tamariscinu, Orthotrichum diaphanum. Latest years
of research in bryology has contributed to the integration of moss in landscape architecture. By classifying the
ecological requests of the species, the possibilities to use moss in gardens, on rooftops, on walls and side-walked can be
identified. The scope of the preset paper is the information and awareness of specialists on the various possibilities to
use well known European moss species in landscape architecture.
Keywords: bryology, moss species, urban environment.
The easy adaptability of vegetal moss to the
terrestrial environment has led to their spreading on
the entire Globe. Mosses have occupied large
surfaces, in different geographic regions.
1. Introduction
According to bryology and botanic
specialists, mosses have appeared on Earth 400
million years ago, deriving from sea algae.
Therefore, bryophytes are considered to be the first
plants appeared on Earth.
In time, their passing from the sea
environment to the terrestrial one, has contributed to
the structural changes, the dimensional growth and
cellular division of the plants [3, 16, 19].
Due to the spreading of spores through wind,
mosses have easily spread throughout continents.
Moss can be encountered from the highest mountain
altitudes to the lowest urban areas with dry and
warm climate [2, 3, 16, 19].
Fig. 1 shows the life cycle of moss
development. The multiplication of moss is made
asexual through spores and sexual through zygote
cells. The asexual multiplication of bryophytes is
made through multicellular organs, vegetative or
specialized organs called spores.
The sexual multiplication is made through the
zygote cell, result of fecundation [3, 4, 17]. Fig. 1
shows the life cycle of moss development.
* Corresponding author.
Tel: +40-264-596384
Fax: +40-264-593792
e-mail: [email protected]
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water. Vivian (1996) mentioned the necessity to use
moss in the ambient space, around street side-walks
and around brick buildings [22].
Currently, one of the main current issues in
cultivating moss is the insufficiency of nurseries for
producing moss at large scale.
Mosses are more common in the design as in
commercial horticulture. They should be produced
in nurseries by companies specialized in design,
instead of using nature's resources for landscape
architecture purposes [18, 20].
On what concerns using moss in Romanian
landscape design, it can be said that there have not
been such approaches within now, which motivates
the present study.
Figure 1. Development cycle of moss [23]
Bryology studies in Romania and worldwide
In Romania, bryology has started to be
studied since 1782, when Johann Hedwing (born in
Brașov) had discovered the reproductive system of
moss and put the bases of bryology [12, 4]. The
studies on moss have continued on the spontaneous
flower by: Radian, Peterfi, Ștefureac, Mihai,
Plămadă, who brought important contribution to the
science [12, 15].
The majority of studies made on moss
worldwide have regarded their capacity to retain
pollution with heavy metals. From the 60’s until
today, scientists have accomplished different type of
measurements related to the capacity of moss to
retain metal pollution from air [13, 7]. One of the
most recent studies made on moss, confirmed their
capacity to protect the plants in the greenhouse,
against fungus [4, 18].
Studies on cultivating moss are limited and
still at the beginning [18, 20].
2.1. Building moss parks and gardens
The history of cultivating moss has started in
Japanese garden culture. In the 18th century,
Chinese masters of the Zen art, used moss in
designing gardens. At that time, the presence of
moss had a sacred character. Most moss gardens
were around Buddhist temples and palaces [5, 9,
21]. In the private sector, moss gardens started to
appear in the 16th century, when the event of
ceremonial tea started to enhance. In time, moss
received a decorative character, both for the
Japanese and for the Europeans [21].
Polytrichum
commune,
Polytrichum
formosum,
Dicranums
coparium,
Atrichum
undulatum, Rhizogonium dozyanum, Hypnum
plumaeforme,
Racomitrium
canescens
and
Leucobryum are amongst the species mostly used by
Japanese masters in landscape architecture. These
cosmopolite species can be found also in Central
Europe and North America [5, 9].
In Europe, moss gardens are generally limited
to areas with high humidity.
The presence of ponds and irrigation systems
is necessary when species with high need for water
are being used. In moss parks the humidity and the
shade are two extremely important factors.
The solution for maintaining the humidity of
garden moss is using concrete and peat as sublayers. The shade is obtained from the tall trees that
surround the area [5].
According to the necessity for shade, garden
moss can be classified in 3 categories: moss for
shady areas, moss for partial shade and moss for
areas with light (Table 1) [5, 10].
At Nienburg, the location of the biggest moss
garden in Germany (Fig. 2, Fig. 3), mosses were
planted on the two layers (concrete and peat).
Concrete is the first layer used, with the scope of not
losing water and the second layer, made out of peat
is used to capture water [5].
2. Cultivating and using moss in landscape
architecture
In landscape architecture mosses have
occupied two roles: an aesthetical role and a
functional role, related to their capacity to protect
soil against erosion and to improve ambient air.
Moss can be used as landscape decoration in slopes,
as protective barriers for soil stability, having also
the advantage of adaptability to different types of
soils, from alkaline to acid.
Nevertheless, moss can extend themselves on
different surfaces, including vertical ones, due to
their morphological ability and the fixing organs:
rhizoids [5].
Although rarely encountered in urban areas
and most of the times considered unpleasant, they
are very suitable to improve the quality of ambient
air. Amongst the benefits that mosses provide to the
environment are: capacity to reduce dust pollution,
acoustic insulation, absorption and retention of
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Figure 2. Several designs using Polytrichum [24]
Figure 3. Polytrichumformosumin the Japanese garden
from Nienburg, Germany [24]
Table 1. Classifying moss species from gardens and parks according to light intensity [6]
Moss for shady areas
Moss for areas with partial shade
Moss for areas with light
Plagiomnium affine
Polytrichum formosum
Polytrichum piliferum
Marchantia polymorpha
Dicranums coparium
Polytrichum jupiperium
Concephalum conicum
Thuidium tamariscinum
Tortula ruralis
Lunularia cruciata
Scleropodium purum
Ceratodon purpureus
Pleurozium schreberi
Racomitrium elongant
Hypnum cupressiforme
Hypnum cupressiforme
2.2. Urban landscapes with moss – “Eco city”
One of the newest ways to use moss in
landscape architecture is for their potential to
improve urban air. The concept called ‘Eco city’ can
be developed through creating green spaces on
buildings using moss [1, 4, 5].
The advantages of moss enable them to be
exposed to urban areas. Moss applications can be
used in tight urban spaces, narrowed by concrete,
where creating parks or gardens would be
impossible. Nevertheless, breeding Bryophytes in
urban areas is convenient due to the shaded spaces
that surround high buildings.
Mosses have the advantage of adaptability to
spaces where few plants would grow. In comparison
with other plants, moss can grow on different kind
of layers: soil, rock, concrete or wood, having also
the advantage of rich and fast spreading [20].
In the urban environment, most species that
have spread spontaneously are cosmopolite species,
with low need of rich soil, shade and dryness of air
[2, 7]. All these moss species are spread on roof tops
and walls, having a pleasant aspect due to coloring
(Fig. 4).
According to Frahm (2008), the most
adequate moss species used to create green roofs
are: Ceratodon purpureus, Grimmia pulvinata,
Orthotrichum diaphanum, Orthotrichum anomalum,
Bryum argenteum, Tortula ruralis, Tortula muralis,
Tortula virescens [5]. In 2010, Minke describes his
book on using Ceratodona purpureusspecies on
decorating roof tops, due to coloring. A rooftop built
in München (Fig. 5) shows some of the variety of
colors of moss in urban areas [8, 9]. Usually, moss
species have a specific coloring, but it can vary
according to the season. Table 2 presents the
specific colors of cosmopolite moss encountered in
urban moss landscape [5].
Using moss to creating landscapes on walls
requires knowing the right sub-layers, due to the
fact that moss retains a high pH, one solution is
granite, and mortar walls have to be avoided. A
more commercial and mobile alternative is using a
textile layer and a metal net that maintains the moss
on the vertical support [5, 8].
Figure 4.The city hall building of Reykjavik, decorated
with moss [6]
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2.3. Designing and improving the quality of
environment along highways using moss
A new type of landscape that can be done
using moss is the space surrounding highways.
Using moss in designing spaces around highways
has a practical role given their capacity to capture
vehicle pollution. In 2007, the Nees Institute from
Bonn, in collaboration with the University of Bonn,
has already started doing research on the capacity of
moss to retain dust particles from the air. Moss was
placed on highway 562 from Bonn (Fig. 6), in the
space that separates the two directions of the traffic
lanes, using a certified material as layer.
Figure 5. Roof top with different moss species [5]
Table 2. Species of moss encountered in urban areas – classifies according to colors [5]
Moss species
Coloring
Bryum argenteum,
Silver/metal
Ceratodon purpureus
Magenta red
Grimmia pulvinata
Silver green
Orthotrichum anomalum
Brown-green
Orthotrichum diaphanum
Light green
Tortula ruralis
Yellow-green
Tortula virescens
Light green
Hypnum cupressiforme
Light green
The material on which the moss was placed is
made out of two components: textile layer and wire
(Fig 7). The textile material is used as sub-layer and
the wire in the shape of nets has the role of
maintaining the moss on the support. This technique
is built with young moss species, which once
arrived at maturity, will cover the anesthetic wires
[5, 8]. The moss placed on highways has taken the
function of grasses cultivated as greensward [5].
3. Conclusions
Moss can be used in the environment as long
as their ecology is being respected. They can be the
solution to extending the green areas from the center
of the cities and outside them, in areas such as along
highways.
Apart from the aesthetic role of moss in
landscape architecture, they fulfill another function:
replacing other species. They can replace species of
grasses (Poa pratensis, Festuca arundinacea,
Festuca rubras or Festuca ovina) used as
greensward for shade or the species with roots that
are traditionally used for creating vertical gardens.
Based on the information presented, due to
the requests for the ecological factors and the low
cost technologies needed, it is considered that
introducing species of moss in landscape
architecture can mean a feasible solution of
modernizing the environment.
At global and European level, finding the best
solutions to design and improve the environment
using moss is under continuous research.
Figure 6. Moss on textile layer - Highway 562 from
Bonn (Germany)
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