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Please help identify this......

b_mcmanusb_mcmanus Posts: 3
in Problem solving
I've only lived in my house since April 2019, but I've no idea what this is on my paving slabs in the back garden and it's also spread to the block paving on my front drive. 

Posts

  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    I'd guess that's lichen.  If it offends you, an anti-fungal patio cleaner could remove it, I think.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    It gives character.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    It's natural and shows you have clean air.   Leave it and it will gain character and colour.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • WillowBarkWillowBark Posts: 243
    Definitely looks like a kind of lichen to me. As @Obelixx says, lichen generally indicates pretty good air quality, as they are relatively particular about their conditions. BBC Springwatch Blog had an article a couple of weeks ago called Liking Lichens: What to Watch this Winter, if you'd like to have a read. There's more to lichen than I thought!
  • b_mcmanusb_mcmanus Posts: 3
    edited February 2021
    Thanks for all your replies, very much appreciated. I had a feeling it was something like lichen, but thought it best to ask first. I'll live with it for the time being, and maybe I'll grow to like it, but if it continues to spread and stand out like a sore thumb against the paving slabs it will have to go.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    This might be worth a read; Looks like it can become a bit of an obsession and it's easy to damage the surface of the pavors, so I'd definitely try living with it if you can:

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • b_mcmanusb_mcmanus Posts: 3
    Thank you Bob, I will check it out and as you say damage could be incurred if I start messing with the surface of the slabs.
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