You may be curious about the sudden appearance of mushrooms
in your lawn over the past two weeks and you may want to know how to get rid of
them. First of all, they are not very
likely to cause any damage to the lawn. If you are patient, the warmer, drier,
weather is right around the corner and they will be gone as quickly as they
came. If they bother you enough, you
could go out in the morning and collect them, place them in a bag and discard
them. This will also reduce the spore
levels in your soils from the above ground fruiting bodies that you see.
They are a soil-borne fungi usually feeding on organic
matter, compost, or even some old tree roots. They are part of a natural
decaying process that peaks in the spring and fall here in the valley when
temperatures and moisture favor their growth.
I would recommend regular watering and feeding of the lawn to ensure the
lawn’s health and let the decay process continue. Lawn aeration couldn’t hurt either, to
encourage healthy plant roots and more oxygen in the soil.
I personally would not recommend a fungicide due to cost and
likely poor results. I have seen the guy
on PBS recommend using dry laundry detergent (without chlorine bleach) to dry
out the mushroom bodies. I have not
verified that this works on mushrooms, but we have heard some complaints of
injury to the lawn. I would just learn
to tolerate the short term nuisance and only pick them if it makes you feel
better knowing that you are doing something at least.
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