Moss on old fruit trees (growing, hogs, front yard, how to)

[MechAndy]

I have several older fruit trees that have moss on them.
They have good new growth above the moss area but the moss is rather alarming.
Any ideas on how to fix this?

Thank you so much.
Andy

[Zoisite]

It would be helpful if you could post a picture to see what kind of moss it is, and how extensive it is on the trees.
.

[MechAndy]

I am out here in the sticks on the Olympic Peninsula.
The wife and daughter are sucking up our bandwidth with working from home.
Each time I try to post a pic it just freezes after a bit.
It is a white curly moss with a green tint.
That’s all I got.
Thanks.
Andy

[Diana Holbrook]

Moss (actually sounds like it's probably lichen) is probably not hurting anything. We have it on some of ours and never try to remove it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen...ee,_Tresco.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen

It's not uncommon in the NW.

[oldgardener]

I have lichen on most of my trees, doesn't bother anything.

[CaptainNJ]

I have lichens on most of the large trees in my front yard. Some trees look strong but I have noticed areas of almost total lichen coverage and they are appear to be unhealthy. A large branch fell recently and I noticed it was densely covered with lichen.

[Zoisite]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

I am out here in the sticks on the Olympic Peninsula.
The wife and daughter are sucking up our bandwidth with working from home.
Each time I try to post a pic it just freezes after a bit.
It is a white curly moss with a green tint.
That’s all I got.
Thanks.
Andy

Yes, that is definitely a lichen. The wiki information Diana posted explains a lot about it. There are tons of different kinds of lichens in the PNW.

Lichens don't harm trees. Lichens may not all look esthetically pleasing but removing them does more harm than good for the trees, whether you remove the lichens manually or by using chemicals. They are actually a good thing to have growing in the area and are an indicator of clean, healthy air and general environment. If any trees with lichens on them are appearing sickly it's not because of the lichens, it means the trees were already sickly before the lichens started growing on them.
.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by oldgardener

I have lichen on most of my trees, doesn't bother anything.

Same here. In our wet climate it cannot be avoided, and doesn't hurt the tree.

[MechAndy]

Cool,
Thank you so much all.

[MechAndy]

HA!
I finally got one of my bandwidth hogs off their computer