Moss around base of Chinese Elm - remove or keep?

[Mazza6059]

Hi everyone,

So my Chinese Elm (over the last year and largly over Winter) has developed a full covering of moss on top of my soil.

I am wondering if this would be better to be removed?

The reason I ask is I worry that watering is becoming less effective as most of the water seems to bead off the surface and I don't know how much is soaking through.

See picture.

Can someone advise if I should remove it or not. And if so, what's the best way to do this?

Thank you all,

Matt

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Nigel Saunders, a loved and hated YouTube Star, moss his moss down. Trimming it like a lawn.

I mow it up.

Removing it, flipping it upside down, and mowing it, replacing the green tips.

It's best to get it done before it's an inch thick, but water should still go through anyway.

Even if water isn't getting through. It's keeping a bed of surface roots perfect for sure.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

Yeah, when it's that thick, you don't have to flip it!
When it's thin, you flip it to cut off the brown and mud.







Sorce

 

[Michael P]

If you have trouble watering from above, submerge the pot in water until it stops bubbling, then allow to drain.

 

[MrWunderful]

I like a bit of moss on top of an older composition, but on a small tree in a pretty small pot, that moss is taking over and would be too much competition for my taste.

Unless the tree is still really vigorous, i would clean up the top layer “Soji” is the japanese word for the technique I believe. Search it on this site and google for many examples.

 

[leatherback]

I remove moss from my pots.

 

[Gene Deci]

Assuming it is nice, I would remove enough moss to expose the nabari anyway

 

[Mazza6059]

Thanks for all the replies people - i'll give the Soji a look into and try - i've so far trimmed all the edges back to the edge of the pot so it is tidier, but in doing this I have found how thick the moss is!