The Japanese gardening technique of kokedama will bring a touch of magic into your home

[cbabe]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/feb/06/the-japanese-gardening-technique-of-kokedama-will-bring-a-touch-of-magic-into-your-home

The Japanese gardening technique of kokedama will bring a touch of magic into your home

Recreate a centuries-old technique from the far east with moss, soil, twine, bonsai compost – and a little patience

Alice Vincent
Fri 6 Feb 2026 07.11 EST
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The ones in the cafe were a more contemporary version: the kokedama was a squat little mound, sitting quietly as if growing straight from the table. While the moss looked green and plump, it was home to a few artfully placed sprigs of limonium (sea lavender) and dried sanguisorba – kokedama as a non-polluting answer to florists’ foam.

It prompted me to think about how I could use them in and outside the house at this bleak time of year. On the other side of town, the Chelsea Physic Garden’s Heralding Spring festival traditionally kicks off my gardening year in late January. There, among the miniature theatres of irises, crops of snowdrops rise from kokedama hanging in the trees; a welcome dose of magic at this time of year.

Kokedama can be made at home with moss, soil, twine and a good bit of patience and practice. You’ll need to mix peat-free potting soil with bonsai compost or sharp sand (which encourages drainage) to make a mixture that feels mud-pie-ready. Remove the plant from its pot – hardier ferns are a good bet for beginners, or bulbs in the green – and make a coconut-sized ball from the compost mix around the rootball, squeezing out excess moisture. Wrap it in sheet moss, then crisscross the twine around the ball, tying and leaving some excess to hang it from.

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