Oh, please leave them. I agree, they are beautiful.
They're are not parasitic (disease-causing organisms) and don't harm trees. No need to worry. Enjoy that lovely look.

Libby

I have it on my crape myrtle, I love the colors. If I can't have spanish moss at least I got lichen :-)

Hee Hee, I've got spanish moss. I've had a piece for years. It's outside now but has to go into the greenhouse for the winter. The lowest my greenhouse has ever gone is 38 degrees F. I love the look of Lichens, just another wonder old mother nature provides.

A......

Lichens are not an infection! And they are indeed beautiful. I have worked hard in my garden over 30 years to encourage lichens to grow on my stone walls and containers and trees.

If you Google "lichen", it will explain what they are.

ok, since i already know the basics for growing various types of mushrooms, shitake, etc. --- you think there's a market for creating a "lichen innoculation culture"? If I can make a damn chicken mushroom grow from culture, I should be able to do this.

But would someone pay for such a service...

Oh my goodness, I have TONS of moss and lichen everywhere! I live in a temperate rain forest.(So I've been told.) I have three massive Big Leaf Maples covered with it. Our lawn is covered with chunks of it that fall after heavy winds. Every Spring we have to kill and thatch it out of our lawn. Somewhere I read that it only grows where the air is very clean. Well, it must be clean here!

that's cool, i think i might try a moss sometime, in the meantime here are the pictures of the lichen on my one tree...

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** and no, i wouldn't really try to sell something like that... ;-p

I know that everyone says Lichens are harmless, BUT, I have several firs and shrubs that have them on the branches. These branches definitely are in poorer shape than those without Lichens. If I remove the Lichens I find that the bark is dead and falls off. Branches seem to die wherever there are Lichens. Is there a spray that will kill the Lichens so I can try this and see if I get an improvement?

We have them here too in the trees and on the stone walls. I have never noticed any difference in the health of the trees. If that were true most of the forest here would be in trouble. To the early settlers this was a valuable food source for them.

Ewww..spanish moss. It is every where in GA where my Dad lives. When I visit I go to great trouble to pull all I can reach out of his trees. It makes everything so dirty looking! Reminds me of over grown horror movie spider webs....

my 2 cents that and a buck wouldn't buy you a cup of coffee:)

Would love to see pictures.

Karyn