Where I live, mosses and lichens grow on anything that stands still for more than 5 minutes. Seriously, I have mosses and lichens on my mail box and on the fire hydrant. I have a pair of teak deck chairs, photos below. The one on the back deck has a rather luxuriant coat of mosses and lichens. The one on the 'lawn' (unirrigated) is bare and they're both the same age. If anything, the one on the deck gets more sun. Neither one gets hit by sprinklers although the one on the deck might get some overspray. I'm curious as to hypotheses on why the difference, but mainly I'm wondering if I should try trimming or shaving off the moss and lichen as it seems like they keep the chair too wet to sit on for longer than the bare one. Looking for input.

I also have a bonsai'd blue atlas cedar which has a pretty thick coat of moss on it now. Generally I love mosses and lichens on trees, and I know they're not hurting anything, but it's to the point where the moss is obscuring the branching pattern of the bonsai and diminishing the aesthetics of the tree. I know I can't get rid of the moss without scraping off the bark, which would seriously injure the tree, but what do you think it would look like to trim the moss? would it be worthwhile?

Lichens growing on teak deck chair.

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Lichens and mosses growing on teak deck chair.

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Moss growing on bonsai.

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another shot of moss on bonsai.

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