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Maddening
Mushrooms
Moisture
and warmth add up for ideal growing conditions for many things, including
the fungi that cause mushrooms. Usually recognized by their fleshy, umbrella
type cap held upright by a stalk and also known as toadstools, mushrooms
aren’t necessarily a bad thing, says Carolyn Townley, a veteran Master
Gardener for the Montgomery County Extension Office.
She says that mushrooms found in lawn areas are the visible signs of a
fungus. Unable to make its own food, this fungus will feed on organic matter
in the soil. “Mushrooms are the fruiting structure of a fungus – like
flowers are to our garden plants. They
do not hurt plants. But the
fungus they are part of may or may not (be harmful).
Some fungi are absolutely necessary.
Without them (the decaying type fungi), we would be covered by organic
matter.”
Living Earth Technology site manager Michael Spencer
sees his customers’ apprehension about fungus as well.
When wood mulch is used to dress a flowerbed or enrich the soil, it is
perfectly normal to see orangish, bubbly mounds appear over night in the
mulched areas. These are not
symptoms, but signs of the decaying fungi doing their job. “Take a walk in
the woods,” says Spencer. “You will find it occurring naturally everywhere
you look. Three days of hot sun beating down will usually take care of it, but
if it really bothers you, just scoop it up with a shovel.
You can even buy products from the nursery to get rid of it.
If you can wait a few days, though, the sun will do it for you.”
Never
handle mushrooms. Many are poisonous, so children should be warned that
mushrooms found growing can be dangerous and should not be eaten.
If you have a good crop of mushrooms and are worried about ingestion by
pets or people, simply mow them down (the mushrooms) or kick them away (again,
the mushrooms).
The eradication
of mushrooms could be considered a no-win situation: to forever rid your lawn
of mushrooms means depleting the soil of organic material and to deplete the
soil of organic material means losing your healthy grass.
Fungi are everywhere in the soil, but with just the right conditions
--- particularly with an excess of rain or running the sprinkler system too
often (more than twice per week on established lawns) --- they may become
visible in the form of mushrooms. These should not cause problems in and of
themselves. So if you notice
damage to the turf, there may be other issues that need attention.
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