Mossy little ball

A month or so ago I wrote about kokedama, Japanese moss balls that contain a small growing plant. I got it in my head that I wanted to make one of these for my dad for Father's Day because he's keen on having something growing on his desk and he was quite fond of my moss terrariums. Unfortunately I couldn't get the various elements together in time for Father's Day but I did eventually get around to making him one last week, and I think it was pretty successful! Actually, as you can tell from the hands in the photos, James did most of the making, but I did a fantastic job at supervising! We got the clay for the ball from Dwellingup when we were there a few weeks ago - the soil there (if you can call it that) is perfect because it is so dense and clay-like, which is what's needed for the ball in order to hold it together. I got the little plant from Bunnings and the dish for the bottom was a vintage one I had at the shop. James started with the plant, removing almost all of the soil around the roots, then clumped the clay around them, before smoothing it into a nice ball. The "moss" we used is actually baby's tears, which we used because it's easier to come by than actual moss (especially now the weather is warming up) and easier to keep alive, too! We basically just wrapped it around the ball of clay, then gave it a good spraying with water to make sure it was nice and moist. And there you have it! It was actually a lot easier than we expected, but I suppose the real test will be whether or not dad can keep it alive! Apparently kokedama need a few hours of direct sunlight ever 2-3 days and can easily be over- or under-watered. If the ball feels heavy when you hold it in your hand it has enough water, but if it feels light you are supposed to soak it in water for 2-3 minutes, then squeeze it to push the water into the centre. I'm not sure our moss ball would hold up to soaking and squeezing, though, so we told dad to just drizzle water over it...so hopefully that's working out ok! I really liked the way this little guy turned out so I think we'll have to make ourselves one now!