thousands of mushrooms in my lawn. Help!!

Hello,

I have lived here (raleigh, NC) for 17 years and every year we have a crop of mushrooms in the autumn due, I am sure, to the watering that is done following the reseeding of our lawn. This has happened every year and varies in the amount. This year is by far the worst ---- we have thousands and thousands of these mushrooms in our front yard. In every area of it ---sunny, shady all over. What I am wondering is:

1. If I don't pull them will they negatively affect the growth of the lawn (especially in the Spring)? We heavily seeded this year and watered a lot and have a lot of beautiful new grass coming in. I have put a lot of time into all of this and don't want the huge numbers of mushrooms to retard or prevent growth.

2. Is there anything I can put on the lawn to prevent these fungii from growing? And if there is, when is the optimal time to apply it ---- before seeding, before the first freeze, after, etc?

3. What causes these mushrooms to grow? Is it just the heavy watering I did for a week and a half to get the new seed going or are there additional factors?

4. Will freezing temperatures cause them to die?


Any help/information/advice you can give me would be very much appreciated. Thanks so much!!

Good news! The mushrooms are a sign of healthy soil! The mushrooms you see are just the fruiting bodies, kind of like flowers, of the underground fungus creature called the mycelium. This mycelium and its mushrooms will not harm your grass. Healthy soil fungus like this can be many years old, and it is a sign that the the soil is alive and thriving. A good thing!

You are probably right, that the mushrooms are a response to the watering. This time of year many mushrooms give a big push to get their spores out before the winter. Around here I go looking for them after a good soaking fall rain. Still, nothing to worry about. No need to spray anything. If you sprayed something to get rid of the fungus it could very well harm the balance in the soil and make your grass les happy!

If you don't like looking at the mushrooms you can go out and stomp then or kick them. Children love to do this!

mushrooms are good! for the lawn, for life, for human consciousness. mushrooms are the equivalent of the nervous system of the ecosphere, the physical intelligence of the Earth.

sorry about all the centuries of ill-intentioned stories, villifying mushrooms, teaching us to fear one of our great benefactors. it's okay!

the mushrooms in your lawn will bring fetrility to the beloved grass monoculture. the mushrooms will go away with the freeze. the mushrooms are not really the organism itself, just its fruiting bodies. fungal mycelia is growing all through the soil under your lawn, it just happened that you and god collaborated to create the perfect conditions that told the fungus to rejoice and send fruiting bodies out in great abundance this year. well done! the mushrooms have now dispersed their spores into the air, spreading throughout your neighborhood, sowing themselves in millions of available habitats. hooray for mushrooms!

and me and Matu are clearly on the same wavelength of fungal intelligence, pretty darn cosmic timing and message!

2. Is there anything I can put on the lawn to prevent these fungii from growing? And if there is, when is the optimal time to apply it ---- before seeding, before the first freeze, after, etc?

No. The fungi are helping fertilize your lawn and make it grow, so if you kill the fungi, you may kill your lawn.

3. What causes these mushrooms to grow? Is it just the heavy watering I did for a week and a half to get the new seed going or are there additional factors?

Fungi live in the soil and are the base of the soil food web. Spores blow in on the wind, find a good place to grow, and they are off. Heavy watering does help the mycelium (the underground "roots" of fungi) to put out a flush of mushrooms, so yes, heavy watering did cause it.

1. If I don't pull them will they negatively affect the growth of the lawn (especially in the Spring)? We heavily seeded this year and watered a lot and have a lot of beautiful new grass coming in. I have put a lot of time into all of this and don't want the huge numbers of mushrooms to retard or prevent growth.

It doesn't matter what you do with the mushrooms, they are there to release their spores to be carried off by the wind for the next generation of fungi. If you don't like the looks of them, just mow them and when they decompose, the cycle of life will start all over with mushroom bits as fertilizer.

4. Will freezing temperatures cause them to die?

The fungi in the soil will still be alive, but freezing weather does slow down their activity.

You should be congratulated for having such a healthy lawn that so many mushrooms can grow in it. If you would like to post pictures here, we can help you identify them as to what species they are.

Thanks everyone, for the replies. It is good to know that the soil is healthy. I have not, nor will I, spray anything on the mushrooms. Already since it was below freezing with a few snow flurries this past week the mushrooms are shrinking. I will just let them enjoy their time in my lawn and fertilize to their heart's content.

Thanks again.

I would have liked to have seen a pic.
What if it was something like shaggy manes or puffballs? Both choice edibles who grow on grassy areas.

Cj Verde wrote:I would have liked to have seen a pic.
What if it was something like shaggy manes or puffballs? Both choice edibles who grow on grassy areas.

Careful there, Amanitas also grow on grassy areas and they are deadly poison.

"There are old mushroom hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold, mushroom hunters."
-- Wise advice usually give on the first day of a mycology class.

Well, as I do not know much about mushrooms (esp. poisonous vs. nonpoisonous) I left them alone and now they are almost gone due to the cold. At their heyday, they were medium brown/beige with cream undersides and grew in clumps (sometimes as many as 10-12) while they were also content to grow in pairs or sometimes singles. Very nondiscriminatory, these mushrooms!! As for taking a picture, well, that would require some tech savvy which I am sorely lacking in. Posting here is about the best I can do.

In general I agree but both shaggy manes and puffballs are among the "safe six" very easy to ID.

John Elliott wrote:

Cj Verde wrote:I would have liked to have seen a pic.
What if it was something like shaggy manes or puffballs? Both choice edibles who grow on grassy areas.

Careful there, Amanitas also grow on grassy areas and they are deadly poison.

"There are old mushroom hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold, mushroom hunters."
-- Wise advice usually give on the first day of a mycology class.