Miniature Moss Gardens

March 6, 2017
Readers will ooh and ah while riffling through the pages of Oshima and Kimura’s illustrated guide to miniature Japanese moss gardens. Pictures of little bits of moss—magnified, wrapped around an ivy root ball, or nestled in teacups—seduce any admirer of green. A closer inspection also nets distinctions among types of moss: Bryum and Leucobryum, Hydrophila and Hypnum. Coauthors Oshima, a Tokyo interior designer who specializes in kokedama (moss ball) gardens, and Kimura, a master of bonsai, believe that “simply gazing at can bring about a warm, relaxed feeling.” However, readers soon realize that moss requires serious responsibility. Kimura and Oshima do their best to kindly inculcate the demanding discipline required of miniature-moss gardeners. They teach about moss’s spreading habits and structures; they insist on proper observation, gathering, and revitalizing. They speak to the distress of buying moss only to have it turn brown and add levity with a cartoon kokedama bouncing about the pages, offering tips in speech bubbles. Color illus.