What to do with Lichen on soil?

Back garden north-facing, heavy clay, been fighting it for 35 years. In younger years I've dug out worst clay, had tons of top-soil and mushroom compost added, but no amount of digging has made it more than just about workable. We have a slight slope front to back, where we have a long-established 8' conifer hedge, with more houses behind us. This has been our wettest winter/spring period, and even in normal winters the bottom of the back garden will have pools at some stage. I have nowhere to drain the water to, so I have to be patient, as it dries out. The garden is about 40 yards deep by 30 yards wide, with about 60% lawned (or more correctly mossed and weeded with patches of grass). We have enough problems with weed seeds blowing from the nearby golf course, but increasingly, from being plagued by moss, a higher proportion of the soil at either side - where I have done my best to raise the soil level above the level of the lawn - soil is being colonised by what looks like a lichen, quite large patches, often mixed with pieces of moss but mostly the lichen seems to have won the battle. It has a hard consistency. I'll try to enclose a photo, and would welcome advice as to whether it's safe to just dig it over, and then wait for it to re-appear maybe in autumn, or dig it out, and replace soil. Is it simply a sign of over-wet clay soil, or can I do anything else to reduce its spread? As digging over is getting harder with age, there's little I can do to improve the soil substantially.

 

They are liverworts and are a sign of compacted and/or poor drainage so for you I guess it’s simply reflects an over-wet soil. I get them in parts of my garden too. They won’t harm your plants and will probably just return whatever you do so I would suggest just leaving them be. ​

 

Agree liverworts, I've actually noticed some in my garden this year, a first for me and probably down to the wet weather.
Without improving drainage I dont think you will get rid of them long term.

You could hoe them out and apply some sharp sand, maybe a sprinkling of lime, it might help.
I'm guessing its pretty shady.

 

I believe it's Liverwort, which often colonises wet ground. It's not harmful in itself, but does make digging harder and indicates very poor drainage. How about raised beds, given the other factors you mention? They should permanently resolve the drainage issue in beds, but won't help your lawn!

 

Thank you all. I've heard the name, but now I know what it is. There is literally nowhere to drain to so I'll dig it over. In my younger days I dug 2 x 6 feet deep square "soakaways" at the sides right at the bottom, but was not really worth the effort.

 

Liverwort requires light to photosynthesize and the application of mulch could suppress it and encourage earthworms to improve the compacted soil.

 

We used to get it in the front garden of a previous house - mature trees and a small, compacted 'lawn' etc. It usually disappeared of it's own accord through the main season.
In borders, I'd agree - some regular mulching will help and will also improve the soil structure which in turn will help a bit. Moss is always a problem here, but I just hoe or hand remove any in borders and pots, and the latter in gravelled areas.

If you have a high water table though, it may be a 'flogging a dead horse' scenario.