What Mushrooms Sprouting In Your Yard Means About Your Lawn's Health

If you went to bed with a perfectly green lawn and woke to delicate white mushrooms dotting your yard, don't panic. You weren't visited by a mythical fairy, and you might not even have a problem with your grass's health. In most cases, mushrooms only sprout in yards with rich, moist soil. And that could be a great thing for your lawn's health.

Of course, there are hundreds of different mushroom species, and not all will crop up in the same conditions. Many types of mushrooms grow as organic material undergoes decay. Others form deep in the soil and appear as textured turf rings. Some can pop up on trees, in gravel, or on pavement. Still others are deadly mushrooms that could be growing in your backyard. Whatever the case, the presence of fungi can often tell you something about the soil condition and grass health in your lawn.

It's a good idea to be familiar with common reasons for mushroom growth, the types of mushrooms you might be seeing, and what they mean. Plus, it's helpful tips on how to rid your yard of mushrooms and prevent them in the future, even if they don't indicate a major problem.

Mushrooms love shade, moisture, and areas with decaying organic material. So while you might find these toadstools unsightly or worry that children and pets will consume them, the majority of fungi appearing in your yard signal healthy soil and natural processes. As mushrooms feed on decaying material, they actually make nutrients available in the soil for your grass and other plants to use. So, before you stress, know it could be a great predictor of your grass's health!

In other cases, certain mushrooms (Armillaria spp.) that feed on decaying material can also cause root rot in healthy trees by feeding on living tissue. Keep an eye out for honey-colored clusters of mushrooms near trees. Otherwise, the biggest problem that mushroom growth signals is poor soil drainage. If you experience heavy rainfall followed by standing water in your yard, you might have a drainage issue. But if you're watering your lawn and seeing mushrooms pop up, it could be that you're overdoing the irrigation.

One of the more common phenomena reported with mushrooms is called fairy rings. This pattern of mushroom growth begins with discolored rings of grass where blades are either dying off or appear to be growing faster, with a darker green color. In some cases, mushrooms will form along the ring line. These rings typically form after a tree is removed, but the stump or wood chips continue to decay in the ground. Over time, a fairy ring can affect your soil's ability to hold water, and your grass might die.

In many cases, mushrooms will appear and thrive for a time until conditions change: the sun comes out, the moisture in the soil dries, or the humidity decreases. And sometimes, the organic material they're feeding on – dead plants, old stumps and roots, even dog waste – gets taken care of, and their food supply disappears. Ridding your lawn of mushrooms begins by changing the conditions so they can't appear or thrive. That means thinning tree branches to allow more sunlight to filter in and hit your grass. It could mean removing old stumps and debris and picking up after your dog more often. In some cases, you can simply remove the mushrooms by hand to prevent their spores from spreading and eliminate a brief infestation.

If you've been watering your lawn, you might take a break and let the soil dry a bit. If you have persistent problems with mushrooms due to standing water, you can improve your lawn's overall drainage through aeration or dethatching. You can easily aerate the lawn with a tool you may already own. The other method is a bit more involved, and you'll want to avoid these mistakes everyone makes when dethatching a lawn.

Many turf experts recommend against using serious fungicides to remove mushrooms from your lawn, because they mostly target existing mushrooms and not the underlying conditions or the mycelium barrier required for them to grow. Plus, they can harm insects, such as bumblebees, in the meantime. You're best off removing these mushrooms by hand or mowing over them the next time you cut the grass.

Finally, there are tons of natural alternatives to store-bought fungicides. After removing the mushrooms, you can make your own fungicide by mixing 5 tablespoons of vinegar with a gallon of water and sprinkling that in the area, or else adding a few drops of dish soap to the area.