On your planting beds, do you have the so-called Irish/Scotch moss that forms large, dense mops of roots?

If so, fork it out before it gets large, otherwise you will lose considerable amounts of soil that gets trapped in the roots of larger clumps of these "mosses". They will dry out in summer if in full sun.

If it is actually moss like those that grow on trees or form in lawns, that is much easier to remove.

I'm not sure what the advantage would be of removing moss from a tree. Try poking the tree with a screwdriver to see if there is wood rotting if you are concerned that the moss is concealing a problem.

Moss naturally grows on trees.

Whether you want it in your beds is up to you.

Dan

Moss on the ground means the surface of your soil is compacted and exposed.

I have a little bit in my planting beds, but a lot is on the outer edges of our yard where the grass has thinned out. This is the first time I remember it being this prolific. We are hoping to remove it without too much labor and seed for more grass in those areas- it's just going to require tedious labor- I can't really rototil as the area also had small trees.

You can easily kill moss in lawns using Moss Out or another moss killer. There are granules or hose end sprayers. They work fast and aren't toxic, they are iron based.

Then, when it warms up rake out all the dead moss (it turns black) and reseed.

Whether or not your reseeding is successful depends upon whether adequate sunlight penetrates to the soil so that the lawn can thrive.

In spite of advertising claims, turf doesn't thrive in shade.

I would definitely have to find something non-toxic- we have a golden retriever ;-) I'm not sure I would feel comfortable having her sniffing around. I may just have to "peel" it off with a flat shovel?
I am not sure how much sunlight gets to the edges of our yard. The suns been gone so long, I've forgotten LOL. When we moved in to this house there was remnants of a raised planting bed over in the area I am talking about, but I think much of the trees and foliage has gone crazy growing along the trail that borders our backyard and it's more dappled sunshine... I will be waiting for the first sunny day...
Thanks so much for your replies!