GO back 400 million years in the Earth’s history and you would find the land masses dominated by what are now known as Bryophytes – the oldest land plants.

These are the mosses and liverworts that we still see today and their contribution to our planet is as important now as it was then.

Of course, you are now beginning to ask what relevance these simple plants have to our modern world and, in particular, to gardening.

Take a look in your bag of compost, on your lawn, in the gutters of your house, shed or glasshouse, on the trunks of your garden trees, on those stone garden features or in a plant pot that has stood out for a few years and you will find representative examples of mosses and liverworts in abundance.

Worldwide there are over 7,000 liverworts and in excess of 10,000 mosses currently identified and our temperate, humid environment in the UK and Ireland is a perfect climate for some of these to grow and develop.

Mosses have become an important part of our lives and, with their incredible ability to absorb water and a slight antibacterial property, the list of uses goes way beyond what we might consider.

They have been used in their dried form as nappies for babies and bedding for humans and animals as well for surgical dressings in the two World Wars.

In the horticultural industry they are widely used for floral decoration, hanging baskets, composts and, during the late 19th Century, became popular as a garden feature in their own right as a moss garden, This was probably tied in with an enthusiasm for other oriental ideas at the time.

To see a modern moss garden why not visit the National Trust property at Dunham Massey in Cheshire. It’s winter garden will be in its full glory now. Go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk or call 0161 941 1025 for more information and opening times.

The properties and values of moss on a worldwide scale are exceptional, helping to absorb and store some of the excesses of the world’s carbon dioxide, stabilising hillsides and so helping to reduce soil erosion, providing a home for many other plants including ferns and orchids, helping to maintain some atmospheric humidity in drier areas of the world, providing an important nesting material for many birds and animals and providing a protective environment for many different invertebrates.

Of course, the resulting peat material that comes from the anaerobic decomposition of sphagnum moss in peat bogs not only provides us with a perfect medium for growing our beloved plants in but it also provides the world with a source of heat, releasing vast quantities of stored CO² as it burns – I wonder whether the absorption and release of CO² equal one another and therefore make peat a carbon neutral resource?

One of the greatest annoyances to modern gardeners is moss in the lawn – poorly drained, compacted, acidic, shady situations and modern housing developments with houses too close together are perfect environments for moss to develop.

The liverworts are thought to be the first land-based green plants and in ancient times were thought to have healing properties for liver complaints. This was based on the fact that the leaf-like structures of some of the commonest forms of liverworts are shaped like a liver. Their direct influence on us is minimal but we will find examples growing on the surface of pot-grown plants in the garden and, occasionally, will find them in container grown trees and shrubs brought from garden centres and nurseries. The moist, acidic compost is a perfect environment.

To find out more about these unsung heroes, take a look at the following websites: www.kew.org/bryophytes.html, www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk, www.bbsfieldguide.org.uk and www.rbge.org.uk – search for Bryology. To see the earth’s timeline and when these and other plants evolved take a look at www.scientificpsychic.com/etc/timeline/timeline.html.