Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow . Often people call the office and tell us that lichens are killing their plants. Lichens however, live independently of the surface, or substrate, they’re growing on-- they don’t have any root-like structures to extract nutrients. When growing on woody plants, they’re simply using them as a way to be in the sunlight. Lichens can be just as healthy growing on tombstones, walls, or rocks. In older landscapes, where