With Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas receiving so much rain in the early spring or accidentally over water you may begin to see mushrooms appear on your lawn. With the recent significant rainfall and or by over watering your lawn our service area has seen a significant amount of mushroom growth. With above average precipitation and moderate temperatures it is leaving the lawn conditions ripe for the inoculation of mushroom spores and the fruition of fungus growth.

The appearance of mushrooms may cause you or anyone to be concerned about the health of your lawn, but thankfully a vast majority of fungus in lawns are related to an excessive amount of rainfall or improper irrigation techniques and not lawn diseases.

Please feel free to contact us for further advice and knowledge regarding mushrooms in your lawn and landscape.

Learn More About Mushrooms in Lawns and Landscapes

• How fungus or mushrooms enter your lawn
• How to reduce the chances your lawn forms mushrooms or fungus
• Do mushrooms or fungus in lawns have any health risks?
• Conclusion

Why do mushrooms or fungus develop?

• Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi living in the soil and thatch of the yard or landscape.
• Plant or organic material (roots, stems, leaves, grass blades, thatch, old tree roots) are constantly trying to break down in the soil naturally.
• Wet conditions speed up the decay of organic matter.
• Fungi live on decaying organic matter in the soil.
• As organic matter decays, nutrients (predominantly nitrogen) become available for the inoculation of fungus spores.

Reduce the chances your lawn and landscape gets mushrooms

Although we can’t control the amount of rainfall, there are some best practices to help reduce the inoculation of mushrooms in your lawn.

• Complete a spring cleanup to remove organic matter and materials that may contribute to their growth.
• Don’t leave behind tree roots or stumps or organic matter after removing a tree.
• Monitor your irrigation system and turn down the watering intervals.
• Aerate your lawn in the Fall to reduce the compaction of soil and improve drainage of water.
• Fix any low spots that accumulate water where it doesn’t drain properly.

Are the mushrooms and fungus in my lawn dangerous?

Probably not, but it is best to assume that they are.

There are roughly 100 different species of mushrooms that can have negative health affects of varying degrees if they are ingested. The best defense is to keep pets away from mushrooms and fungus and to teach your children that they are nothing to play around with and to stay away from them. The most important thing is to make sure your pets and young ones aren’t eating the mushrooms or fungus in your yard.

It is very difficult to look at a mushroom and tell if it is poisonous or has and health risk or threat at all. If you see your child ingest any mushrooms or fungus at all, it is advised to seek medical attention immediately. Learn more about the health risks of mushrooms and fungus.

Conclusion

Mushrooms and fungus are mainly the cause of environmental conditions that are favorable for growth. They are usually just a temporary result when environmental conditions are just right. They usually don’t pose any immediate threat. It is very important to also remember that there is a possibility that mushrooms can be poisonous and that you definitely should seed out medical attention if ingested.

When it comes to short or lasting effects of mushrooms on your lawn, They aren’t the worst. If there is only one or two mushrooms popping up around your yard, there is a high chance that once the environmental factors change the mushrooms and fungus will disappear and your lawn will return back to the state it was in before.

If there is a large amount of mushrooms on your lawn, there is a high possibility that it will leave bare spots in your lawn when the mushrooms disappear. It will be necessary to re-seed these these areas so that weeds do not take over.

If you are having mushrooms on your lawn and need help eliminating them, contact us, your local lawn care service professionals and we will be happy to handle them for you.