asian pear and plum tree's

[Tonya]

I have an asian pear tree I'm sure of. The other we believe is an asain plum tree. The plum tree is wildly over grown and over wraught with a moss/fungus like "stuff". Whats the best way to prune this back and how to get rid of whats on it?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

it is probibly a lichen that is on your tree.

this is one type that looks comon around here.

For more go to the lichen portrait galery.
http://www.lichen.com/portraits.html#anchor315751

too cool

As for pruning, I would recomend studying from here
http://search.dogpile.com/texis/search?q=proper+pruning&geo=no&fs=web

and working on it a little at a time. The older a tree is the less you can remove from it in any given season. The rule of thumb says no more the 25%, but a very old tree can be sent into decline by 15%.