GREENERY · EASY
Moss & plants
Greenery goes on last, and it hides all the flaws underneath. It’s also the one place where free natural materials are a bad idea: fresh moss from the woods gets moldy, attracts bugs and ends up in the trash by January.
The trouble with fresh moss
It looks beautiful for about three days. Then, in a room heated to 68 °F (20 °C), one of two things happens: it dries out and turns brown, or it stays damp and gets moldy. Either way, it leaks water into your foam, cardboard and spackle, and it brings along whatever was living in it: tiny bugs, mites, larvae, sometimes even slugs.
There’s another reason, too: in many places, including many public lands, gathering moss is restricted or banned, because it takes years to grow back and it’s home to a whole tiny ecosystem. Check the local rules before you head out with a bag.
If you really want fresh moss for one special evening, like Christmas dinner or a one-day display, lay it on plastic wrap and take it out the next day. Just don’t leave it in the scene for six weeks.
What to use
| Material | What for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Preserved moss (sheet or mood moss) | Meadows, banks, the foot of walls | Supple, colorful, lasts for years. The most expensive, and the most useful. |
| Preserved lichen | Bushes, tree foliage | Tears into irregular tufts. Dries out and crumbles if handled. |
| Flock (synthetic turf powder) | Short grass, path edges | Sprinkled over white glue. Mix two or three shades. |
| Static grass fibers | Tall grass | Need an electrostatic applicator to stand up. |
| Dried thyme, rosemary, lavender | Scrubland, small shrubs | Free, perfect scale, and the scent is a bonus. Must be completely dry. |
| Heather roots, twigs | Trunks and branches | Look for natural forks: they make believable trees. |
Preserving your own moss
If you’ve gathered moss legally (from a wall, a roof or your own yard), you can preserve it yourself. The idea is to replace the water in the moss with glycerin, which doesn’t evaporate and doesn’t feed mold.
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Clean
Shake it, brush it, and remove the dirt and anything that moves. Rinse it in clean water and let it drain.
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Prepare the bath
Mix one part vegetable glycerin with two parts hot water. Add a few drops of green food coloring to perk up the color, since moss always fades a little.
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Soak
Submerge it completely: two to three hours for sheet moss, half a day for cushion moss.
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Drain and dry
Lay it flat on paper towels in a well-ventilated room for two to three days. It should feel soft and springy, never sticky.
Moss that is still damp when you put it away will mold in the box and contaminate the whole scenery. If in any doubt, let it dry another week.
Placing the greenery
The most common mistake is wall-to-wall carpet: an even layer of moss over everything. In nature, plants only grow where there’s water, shade and soil.
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Follow the water
Thick around the basin and along the stream, thinner farther away, and none on the ridgetops.
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Edge the buildings
A strip along the bottom of walls and steps and in corners, never in the middle of a path.
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Vary the shades
Use at least three greens, plus a straw yellow. A single green looks like a pool table.
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Glue in patches
Brush white glue on small areas, then press the moss into it. Don’t overdo it: glue that seeps through leaves shiny spots.
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Leave bare ground
Keep at least a third of the ground as bare dirt and rock. That’s what makes the green stand out.
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Finish with flock
Sprinkle a little where the moss meets the dirt to hide the edge. It takes five minutes and makes a huge difference.
Trees and bushes
A nativity tree is made in two steps: the frame and the leaves.
- The frame: a forked twig, twisted wire or a heather root. It should get thinner toward the top, and the branches should spiral around the trunk, not all stick out on one side.
- The leaves: lichen torn into small clumps and glued on branch by branch. Don’t make a ball: a real tree has gaps where you can see the sky.
For a Provençal nativity, aim for the shape of a cypress (tall and narrow) or an olive tree (low, twisted, with gray-green leaves). For a mountain nativity, go with a fir: a clear cone shape with level branches.
Scale: with 3-inch (7 cm) figures, a full-grown olive tree is 6 to 10 inches tall, a cypress 12 to 16 inches. A 3-inch tree next to a 3-inch figure is a bush, not a tree. That’s fine, as long as you treat it as a bush and don’t park the donkey under it.
Saint Barbara’s wheat
This Provençal custom is simple and worth trying, wherever you live.
On December 4, Saint Barbara’s Day, plant wheat seeds (or lentils) in three saucers lined with damp cotton. Keep them warm and in the light. By the 24th, the sprouts are about 4 inches tall and go into the nativity, often tied with a red ribbon.
As the Provençal saying goes, “Quand lou blad vèn bèn, tout vèn bèn”: when the wheat grows well, all goes well. Straight green sprouts promise a good year. Yellow, droopy ones, the opposite.
Three tips if you give it a try:
- Three saucers, traditionally, for the Holy Trinity.
- Not too much water. The cotton should be damp, never soaked, or the seeds will rot before they sprout.
- Plenty of light, or the stems grow thin, turn pale and flop over. The saying calls that a bad omen. A gardener would call it not enough sun.
It’s the only living thing in the nativity, and for many kids, it’s the part they remember most.