Gelatinous lichens 2011

01 October 2011

Is your garden full of darkest green to black jelly-like blobs? If so these are probably gelatinous lichens, usually each blob is 1-3cm across and has an undulating or folded surface. They are most commonly found on compacted soil, paths and drives or on the lawn. The prolonged wet and damp weather in many areas has provided them with just the conditions they love.

Gelatinous lichens may be none too pretty, but they do not actually harm the nearby plants, or the surface on which they grow. But in some cases they can provide a serious slip hazard, especially on grassy slopes and on paths.

In drier weather they often dehydrate, becoming flaky and sometimes crispy, but as soon as the wetter weather returns they re-hydrate and are back to their jelly blob form!

If you have them in the garden and really can't bear them, or they pose a hazard, then the best thing to do is to fork them up and then rake them away. Keeping the soil regularly hoed or forked and avoiding compaction generally deters gelatinous lichens to a great extent.

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