An enchanted kingdom where moss is boss

light to penetrate, but as moss is so resilient it is not a job that desperately needs doing according to a strict time frame. Interlopers are controlled, and foxgloves, ferns and other desirables are managed to retain the required balance. Windy Hall is multilayered: there is a privy garden, a kitchen garden, a pool and bog garden, topiary, planted urns, clipped box hedges and two National Collections ( Aruncus and Filipendulas), all fitting into a structured framework. The flock of rare Hebridean sheep helps manage the grassland and beautify the landscape. Moss will fit beautifully into many gardens, whether you are in the wet west or arid east. Jonathan Graham is a botanist who works with moss. He says that with a vast array of species thriving in so many different habitats, mosses can be grown anywhere in the UK. From exposed sunny sites to salty clifftops or the dry shade under a beech tree, there will be a moss to suit. He lives near me, in the dry East Midlands, and transplants mosses, which enjoy the local conditions, to his garden. Instead of roots, they have rhizoids. They are survivors, and in gardens where borders are routinely kept clean with weedkiller, green carpets of moss still roll in. Some species will even be resistant to glyphosate and other herbicides. When Jonathan transplants moss, he will take pieces the size of a 2p coin (with the landowner’s permission), pop it on the soil or on a rock, water it and just let it go. A few species are incredibly rare and protected by law, but the likelihood of selecting these, he says, is remote. If you want to buy cushion moss, carpet moss or sphagnum moss, you can get it from Rob at the Curious Plant Company (curiousplants.co. uk). For all you need to know about growing moss, David Kinsman recommends George Schenk’s book, Moss Gardening (Timber Press). When visitors admire Windy Hall, they sometimes see the four acres and say: “All that work!” But David’s reply is that it is satisfying and fun to do. And, he says, the whole ethos of creating a landscape not heavily controlled by man allows them to work on it when it suits them. So if you want to spend more time admiring and less time controlling, moss could be your friend. Windy Hall, Crook Road, Windermere, will be open for the NGS on Sunday May 23 and June 7, and for groups at other times by appointment. Email dhewitt.kinsman@gmail.com or call 01539 446238.