What Causes Toadstools in Lawns?

After a few days of rain and overcast skies, many of our Denver lawn service clients are asking, ” Why are we getting so many toadstools in our lawn? And how do we get rid of them?”

Even though toadstools are a fungus, fungicides or products that kill fungus are a waste of time on toadstools. While a nuisance, they aren’t destructive to the lawn.  You can reduce the number and frequency of mushrooms by removing thatch and other organic matter that feed the fungus.

If you’re bothered by the mushrooms, there are techniques one can use to control them. First let’s talk about how they emerge and when. Toadstools or mushrooms emerge above the soil zone during especially wet seasons. The simple fact is that toadstools have been in your lawn all along. They’ve developed below the surface, decomposing dead tree roots, stumps, and other organic debris. When a wetter spring occurs, they grow more quickly and produce their “fruiting structures.”  These are the toadstools you see above ground.

In fact, fungi are beneficial contributors, recycling material to keep soil healthy, feed worms, and allow proper water transfer in the root zone. Proper lawn care, combined with avoiding over-fertilization, should reduce the visible presence of fungi and toadstools.

If they are a blemish on your lawn, or you’re concerned that children or pets might try to eat them, remove them with a rake.

Usually toadstools will grow randomly around the yard. A certain species, known as “fairy ring” mushrooms, come up annually and form circles. Each year these rings will increase in size. You can tell them sometimes by the yellow or dead grass that they surround. These can’t be eradicated except through radical grass replacement strategy. In other words, killing the mushrooms and the grass around it.

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