Mushrooms – Control

Q: After a big rain I had dozens of mushrooms in my lawn. Will they make more mushrooms? Should I remove them?

A: Another way to think about mushrooms is to call them the “flowers” of an organism that lives underground.

In your case, a common fungus has been feeding on organic debris underground. The lack of rain gave it no opportunity to send up occasional small mushrooms, so it simply waited for the right conditions. The soaking rain signaled an explosion of growth aboveground – resulting in the mushrooms you found.

They will release fungus spores as they dry, but since other spores are naturally found all over your neighborhood, you can’t prevent future mushrooms by destroying them.

Your mushrooms may or may not be edible. Remove them before toddlers or curious puppies have a taste.

The mushrooms might be unsightly but they do no harm to the turf. They are simply a signal that Mother Nature is doing her job consuming the thatch or tree roots under your grass.

Most people just pick them and put them on the compost pile, hit them with a golf club or mow over them.