Moss in hedge

I have recently planted a Hawthorn hedge plus some Golden Beech* trees, most are growing well.

Some of the trees have what looks like moss growing on the brabches where you would expect to see buds, (some of) the beech trees are worst affected and have no buds at all, the hawthorn buds are stunted.

What is the best way to treat this problem, and hopefully the trees can recover in time for spring.

Thanks

*I think that's what they're called

FarmerBrown

Use a product called Mogneton it's meant to be very good on moss

bmaxi

Are you sure it's not lichen? If it is, it will do no harm to your trees and is actually an indicator of how pure the air is where you live. Post some pics if you can.

bmaxi

bmaxi wrote: »

Are you sure it's not lichen? If it is, it will do no harm to your trees and is actually an indicator of how pure the air is where you live. Post some pics if you can.

Here's a picture I took earlier, unfortunately the auto focus focued on the grass but hopefully there is enough to identify the growth.

bmaxi

Yes, that's lichen. It will do absolutely no harm to your trees, if the trees are not thriving I would look elsewhere for the cause. Lichen takes all its nutrients from the sun and air and as I said earlier is a good indicator of how clean the air is. So leave it alone and be thankful for clean air.

Irish Gardener

bmaxi is spot on dolanbaker, it is lichen, and it is indicative of fresh air.
But it is often indicative of something worse as well.
I'm sure you have heard the saying " A rolling stone gathers no moss", well a healthly growing tree gathers little moss or lichen?
If growth was at the correct speed then with the extension and expansion of shoots and bark the lichen could not settle.

Something is causing your trees to grow slower than normal.
Possible causes........ Poor infertile soil, grass/weed growth at base, water logging, strimmer/lawnmower nicks to the base, canker attack, lack of staking and the knock on wind rock etc.
Have a look for any of these.

Irish Gardener

Irish Gardener wrote: »

Something is causing your trees to grow slower than normal.
Possible causes........
Poor infertile soil, Soil OK
grass/weed growth at base, Yes! some, I clear it away from time to time.
water logging, Possible, but neighbouring trees OK
strimmer/lawnmower nicks to the base, Very likely!
canker attack,
lack of staking and the knock on wind rock etc. Planted OK
Have a look for any of these.

Weeds and strimmer are the likely culprits, I intend to lay grass clippings around the base of the trees to keep weeds down. good idea?

bmaxi

Deleted User wrote: »

Weeds and strimmer are the likely culprits, I intend to lay grass clippings around the base of the trees to keep weeds down. good idea?

You can certainly use grass clippings as a mulch to suppress weeds, it won't be very pleasing to the eye though.
I would wait a while to allow the soil to warm up as you may make a bad situation worse and stunt the growth of the already weak trees. Don't use any thing that has been treated with weedkiller and, if possible, try to let the clippings dry for a couple of days before using them. Weed the area beforehand and apply about 4" deep.