We Need to Talk about Moss

We need to talk about moss.

We need to talk about all things green, everything that terraforms the planet, tames the rage of wind and water, gathers carbon out of air and feeds the biosphere. We have not heard enough about trees and grasslands yet, nor river-reeds and seaweeds. Let’s not stop talking forest and food-chain, farming, foraging, flora and fauna. But let’s include the small and creeping things as well. Mosses.
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I want to know why there are chemical sprays to remove the moss from garden lawns, when everyone who has ever walked barefoot through their garden on a summer morning knows that a lawn needs moss to make it perfect. I want to understand why you would water-blast the greenness off your boundary-walls and driveway, when it’s not doing any harm and it looks so much prettier than naked brick and stone. I want to find out if there’s a cost-effective way to build a roof that won’t get damaged by slow-shifting clumps of moss—a roof that mosses could thicken and insulate like old mediaeval thatch, keeping your house cooler in summer and warmer the rest of the year. 

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