Mushrooms in the lawn

Posts

• josusa47 Posts: 3,530

  July 2020

  It's almost impossible to eradicate fungi from soil, and if you succeeded, you wouldn't be able to grow very much.  A soil fungus is a bit like an iceberg, in that most of it is out of sight below ground.  The "body" of the fungus is the mycelium, a network of fine threads that infiltrate the soil.  They feed on the organic matter in the soil, and in the process, they break up large, complex molecules into smaller, simpler ones which plants can take up.  With a few exceptions, such as honey fungus, they do no harm in a garden, and are a sign that your soil is in good heart.
  
  The visible part, the "mushroom", is the reproductive apparatus, the equivalent of a flower.  If the sight of them offends you, by all means remove them; you can compost them or put them in the council garden waste bin if your council provides that service.  You won't damage the underground fungus.  But if you wait a few days, you'll find that the mushrooms will break down of their own accord and disappear into the soil, fertilising it as they go.
  
  

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• BobTheGardener Posts: 11,385

  July 2020 edited July 2020

  Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of the much larger fungal body, which is within the soil and most feed on dead wood which they convert into forms that plants can take in as food.  It is very, very, very, common for new builds to have lots of builders rubbish (bits of plywood, timber offcuts,  bulldozed trees etc.) buried in the garden.  They usually just use a digger to smash it up a bit and level it, then cover it with a few inches of topsoil and then turf it.

  I would advise removing a small section of turf in at least a couple of areas and digging down to see what you find.

  There are no fungicide products available to kill fungi of this sort and even if there were, you would be crazy to use them as they would also kill the rest of the soil fungi which are vital to have in a healthy soil.

  Brushing them off and disposing of them before letting the dog out is the best thing to do right now.  Once the woody material has been broken down or removed, they will no longer appear.
  

  A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  

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• Dovefromabove Posts: 88,147

  July 2020

  There is absolutely nothing you need to do, or should do for that matter ... the fungi are doing a useful job of breaking down organic matter in the soil into a form that can be accessed by the roots of your plants, including your lawn grass. Very few of them cause damage in a garden.  
  
  The mushrooms are just the fruiting bodies of the fungus ... below the surface the soil will be full of mycelium ... you cannot destroy it.  It may well be that farmed mushroom compost was used on the turf laid in your garden and this is why you have mushrooms, or it could be that the spores were already in the soil.  Once they have used up whatever it is they're feeding on they will die out. 
  Lots of info here https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=469
  
  I regard them as one of the wonders of the natural world, but you hate the site of them on your lawn  then brush them off and bag and bin them ... do the same if your dog is eating them (although in all the years that I've kept dogs in the countryside I have never ever known any of them eat a mushroom, toadstool or any other fungus).
  
  The majority of fungi are not dangerous, but of course do not eat any that have not been identified as edible by an expert. 
  
  
  

  
  Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• jordanhayes7391 Posts: 5

  July 2020

  Thank you all - I will continue to pick on a daily basis as they are horrible looking and in clumps all over the grass. And unfortunately our dog is very interested in them - hasn't ate them yet but don't want to give her the chance.

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