I’ve heard it said that mushrooms are good company as they are fun-gi’s to be around!! Ok, I’m sorry that was terrible but I couldn’t resist it.
Having spoken to one or two of our Lancashire Lawncare customers just lately, a few have expressed concern with the amount of (or appearance of) mushrooms or toadstools in their lawns. Is that the case with your lawn?
Well if it is there is no need to panic. Having done some research into the matter it would simply appear that the appearance of mushrooms in your lawn is due to the wet spell we’ve had coupled with the summer temperatures. The combination of the two produces almost perfect composting weather, which is sort of what is happening beneath the lawn in your garden. Let me explain. Lawns rarely, unless layered with tonnes of top soil beneath the grass, have nothing beneath the surface; i.e, tree branches, a layer of thatch or even rotting leaves that have been taking down. These begin to rot in the damp/humid conditions and produce a fungus which in turn grows into a beautiful and yet slightly annoying mushroom or toadstool right in the middle of your lovely lawn.
Are they doing harm to my lawn? Again the simple answer is NO. What they are doing is in fact just nature and the activity beneath the lawn is actually very beneficial, it’s the fruit of the fungus (mushroom or toadstool) which causes the problem. These very often can produce spores which may spread in the garden and when they appear in the lawn they look a little unsightly. The fact that they have begun to appear in the summer is just because of the unusual year we’ve had so far. They would usually appear in the autumn/winter time but because we’re not outdoors as much we don’t take as much notice. They can be removed by mowing the lawn or by pulling them up, this won’t completely remove them but will make your lawn look better. You can apply a fungicide if you really want to but its no guarantee of removing them and they tend to be quite costly and it would be highly advisible to really check the product thoroughly to make sure its the right one for your fungus. As your lawn dries out you will notice that they will start to disappear.
