A mossed animal is a welded steel frame packed by hand with sphagnum until the animal has a body. It is the oldest thing we make. It is also the one most often killed by kindness, so read the watering section before you buy. If you want an animal you can leave alone, this is the wrong one.
A mossed deer on a lawn. The moss is the whole body, and the only thing under it is the steel frame.
What is under the moss
The frame is the same welded steel frame we sell bare, with the rods spaced closer so the moss has something to grip. Up close you see single fibres, and the frame shows through in places.
The moss is sphagnum, and it is there to hold water. It holds many times its own weight, so the body of the animal is a reservoir. That is what lets you plant into it later. It is also why you water it.
Packing is done in handfuls. Each one is worked into the frame and pressed until the body is even and firm. An under-packed animal goes lumpy as the moss settles. An over-packed one holds water at the centre and sours.
It is why two people packing the same frame produce two slightly different animals.
Watering, which is what kills them
Water as soon as the moss feels dry, and never let it sit soggy.
A proper soak beats a splash. Rinse it at a hose or a sink until moisture spreads evenly through the body, then let it drain.
Sphagnum holds a great deal of water and also dries fast in heat. So a piece in full July sun can want attention every day or two, while the same piece on a shaded porch in May can go a fortnight.
Mist it between soaks when the weather is hot. That keeps the surface from drying out before the next watering.
Plant into it, or renew it
You need to plant into the moss or renew it. Left alone, the animal looks fine for a while and then goes thin. By then the frame wants stripping and repacking, which is a real job.
Plant into it within the first six months. Ivy, creeping fig, baby tears and small succulents all take. The roots knit into the sphagnum. The plant becomes the visible surface, and the piece renews itself. Once the plant has covered the body, it looks better in year three than in year one.
Or renew the moss. To keep it a moss animal, work fresh sphagnum into the old once or twice a year. The surface is the part that weathers; the core stays sound far longer.
The care page covers the routine for each piece type. Planting succulents into sphagnum is set out step by step.
Check the breed before you buy
Check first whether you can recognise the breed. People do not write to us asking for “a dog”: they ask for a corgi, a dachshund, a Boston terrier, a golden retriever, a Westie. The search terms that bring people here say the same thing.
A good frame gets the proportions, the set of the ears and the tail carriage right. Those are the details that make somebody stop in a garden centre. Every one of them is decided at the welding stage.
Quoted. Life-size bunny, 14 in.
$282. A corgi at 17 in tall and 28 long.
Quoted. Flamingo at 54 in, quoted with delivery.
Sizes run from about nine inches to over four feet. The range goes well past dogs: rabbits, squirrels, seahorses, deer, flamingos, a moose. The animal index is the fastest way to find a species, and each animal has its own page.
Where they work, and where they do not
Put it outdoors in dappled or partial shade. Full afternoon sun in a hot climate makes the moss dry faster and turn pale, so you need to water it more often. Deep shade keeps it damp long enough to sour.
Indoors works for smaller pieces if you can water them without ruining the floor. In practice that means a tray and a piece light enough to carry to a sink. Most people who try it indoors give up over the watering rather than the plant.
Keep your mossed animal out of standing water over winter: tip out any rain that collects in its saucer, or raise it off the ground. Cold alone does not usually kill it. The moss goes dull over winter and picks up again.
Questions we get asked
How often do I water a mossed topiary?
When the moss feels dry. In full summer sun that can be every day or two; on a shaded porch it can be a fortnight. Soak it until moisture spreads through the body, then let it drain.
Can I leave it out over winter?
Yes. Frost does not kill it and the moss recovers. Standing water does kill it, so do not let it sit in a saucer of rain.
Do I have to plant into it?
No, but if you do not plant into it within about six months, you need to work fresh sphagnum in once or twice a year. A piece that gets neither goes thin, and then the frame wants stripping and repacking.
What can I plant into the moss?
Ivy, creeping fig, baby tears and small succulents all root into sphagnum readily. The roots knit into the body and the plant becomes the visible surface.
Can you make a specific dog breed?
Most common breeds are already in the range, and anything else is made to a drawing. You recognise a breed by its proportions and the set of its ears, and both are fixed at the frame stage.
