I can highly recommend Schenk’s book. It’s readable, entertaining, and presents a very sustainable approach to landscaping.
Here’s the book info if you care to check it out
Moss Gardening: Including Lichens, Liverworts and Other Miniatures
George H Schenk
· Hardcover: 262 pages
· Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated (March 1, 1997)
· Language: English
· ISBN-10: 0881923702
· ISBN-13: 978-0881923704
Also, the plants called Irish or Scotch Moss aren’t “true” mosses, and don’t fit the same ecological niches as other “true” mosses. They reproduce with tiny little flowers and make tons of seeds. You can collect seeds by moistening your hand and brushing it over the top of the plant when the plant is in the right stage. They look like little poppy seeds.
They tolerate more footsteps and more sun, but not so much that you’d want to plant them in a walkway. Edges of a walkway would be ok.
The moss that often thrives in Japanese formal gardens is in the genus Polytrichum, and will tolerate occasional steps, but isn’t tough enough to be in a walkway.
I agree with the others who suggested transplanting. Choose the source area carefully to match with the conditions of the destination, and keep it moist for the few months it takes to establish.
