Risley Moss peat accumulation filled the depression, allowing colonisation by bog mosses such as the "Sphagnum" varieties, thus giving rise to the name "moss". Risley Moss is one of only two mosses in Cheshire where the water level has been deliberately raised in an attempt to encourage the regeneration of an active bog surface. The long-term restoration project to re-wet the moss began in 1978 and was completed in 2002. This scheme was undertaken to create a series of scrapes and bunds to retain water and recreate the perfect conditions for bog flora such as cotton grass and sphagnum mosses to re-colonise
Sphagnum palustre light brown with stem diameters of 0.6 to 1.2 millimeters. The epidermis (Hyalodermis) of the stem is built in three layers and their cells form 1 to 3 seldom more pores and contain much spiral fibers. The branches are tufted forming clusters of three to six on the little stems. The heads are a little more pigmented and egg-shaped. "Sphagnum palustre" plants are spread across the whole of Europe and also can be found in parts of America, Australia and New Zealand. It is comparatively frequent and grows on moist and wet habitats like wet forests, often coniferous forests, on