![An Australian Government Initiative [logo]](/images/austgovt_brown_90px.gif)
Moss Garden in a kitchen sink !
Notes on setting up a moss garden for the Australian National Herbarium Open Days in August 2006
Photos can be enlarged by clicking
Start with a kitchen sink purchased from a recycle depot for about Aust$20. Paint it with bituminous paint. Here half the sink has been painted. |
 |
Paint the whole top surface with bituminous paint. Bituminous paint is sold for waterproofing tanks etc. A tin like this costs about A$15. It takes about 10 days to dry. |
 |
Here the whole top surface of the sink has been painted with bituminous paint. Masking tape was put on the sides to keep them free of paint. |
 |
River sand was poured onto the wet surface of the thick bituminous paint. The sand was about 5 mm deep and pressed into the paint. |
 |
Here the whole surface of the sink is covered in sand. Leave this for about 10 days for the bituminous paint to dry before brushing the loose sand off. |
 |
Trickle irrigation tubing was clipped in place along the back edge of the sink over the sand-bonded surface. A small fountain pump (about A$10) was connected to this tubing. |
 |
A series of equal-length smaller trickle irrigation tubes were connected to the main pipe at each end of the sink. The pump pressure was found to be able to deliver water to about 5 of these small tubes at each end of the sink, ie about 10 trickle outlets. The tube ends were just cut, no trickle irrigation heads were used. |
 |
Coarse river gravel was placed over the flat surface of each end of the sink to plant the mosses into. A length of mossy rotting log was placed along the back length of the sink. The small tubing was placed to deliver a constant trickle of water to various mosses. It was later buried in the gravel. |
 |
The final display moss garden was set up for two months prior to the Herbarium Open Days. It was put on a frame stand with castors for easy mobility. It subsequently went on display in the foyer of the Australian National Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre for three months. |
 |