Moss in crepe myrtle - is it a bad thing?

Hi all - I've read a couple of articles about how moss is not good for crepe myrtles. Can you provide some insight as to whether or not this is true?

If it is not a good thing and should be removed, are there any specific tools/approaches to removing it? The tree is too tall for me to use a ladder to reach a lot of it (not to mention, I am afraid of heights). I've included a couple of pics, but they are not really showing just how much moss is in the tree.

Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Moss is something that will continue to find places to grow as long as the conditions are appropriate. I am not aware of it damaging crape myrtles in any way other than potentially decreasing their aesthetic value( though this is questionable) you could do some pruning in your landscape to improve air flow and light penetration where possible and this could potentially slow the moss growth( or lichens). All said, moss would probably grow on me if I was outside year round

Spanish moss notoriously grows in oaks and elms down here (Central Florida), but I've never seen it in my area on crepe myrtles or a number of other trees. I have multiple crepe myrtles in my yard, some of them for as long as 30 years, and never had a moss issue with any of them until a couple of years ago - with this one in particular.

There isn't a whole lot of other vegetation blocking light or air from this tree for the most part, so I'm not sure if that would help much.

I was hoping to find others who have experienced issues with moss in crepe myrtles who could either confirm or deny - in their opinion - if what I read is true about moss not being healthy in crepe myrtles. Just recently a horticulturist who regularly publishes articles in our local news, said that while moss doesn't typically bother many tree species, crepe myrtles is not one of them and recommended it be removed.

I even had someone who removed a lot of it a couple of years back, but didn't get it all. Now, there is as much of it as there was before I had some of it removed. Maybe that is the best I can hope for, paying someone to come out every year or so and get as much of it out of the tree as possible.

Spanish moss and ball moss are not really "moss" but rather epiphytes in the Tillandsia genus of the bromeliad family of plants. They get their nutrients from airborne particles and rainwater, so they're not parasites that directly damage their host tree. Spanish moss is only a problem if its growth becomes so dense as to shade out the foliage of the host tree. Your pics don't seem to indicate that's a problem so removal is probably not necessary. But the growth of the crape myrtles does look a bit weak, so I'd recommend applying some general-purpose/complete fertilizer as instructed to the root zone.

This message was edited Apr 28, 2018 9:36 PM

Just thought I would follow up with a new image of the tree this year, to see if anyone might think the moss is becoming a bigger problem. It seems to me to be more 'plentiful' than last year. What do you all think? Btw, the tree is just now beginning to form the spring buds. Thanks!