Don't Worry About Mushrooms in Your Lawn—They're Actually a Good Sign, a Pro Says (2024)

Bright red toadstools, funky jelly fungus, and rounded puffball mushrooms in lawn grass may look alarming. However, lawn mushrooms can be a sign that you have healthy soil.

Mushrooms can help lawns grow better by breaking down organic matter and making soil nutrients more available to plant roots.

Before we get into removal tips, here are a few reasons why lawn mushrooms may be worth keeping around.

What Causes Mushrooms in the Lawn?

• Shady, moist areas: Although some mushrooms tolerate sun, mushrooms are more likely to sprout in shady spots with lots of overhanging trees and brush.
• Heavier rainfall than usual: Mushrooms thrive in moist areas, and heavy rainfall, drainage issues, or overwatering can all cause a mushroom “bloom.”
• Warm temperatures. High humidity and warm temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal for most common mushrooms.
• Nutrient-rich soil: Soils rich in organic matter support plant life, but they also feed mushrooms. Many species of mushrooms are especially fond of woody materials and they may sprout on decaying sticks and stumps.
• New soil or compost: You likely already have mushroom spores on your property. However, spores can also be trucked in within new deliveries of soil or compost.

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Benefits of Mushrooms in Lawns

Most mushrooms don’t harm living plants and they can be fun to have around if you love that woodsy look. But beyond their aesthetic appeal, mushrooms also benefit lawns in a few key ways:

Waste Removal

Mushrooms are nature’s decomposers that break down old plant material, dead insects, sticks and woody debris, decaying plant roots, and other organic matter. This keeps grass lawns tidy, but it also recycles nutrients back into the soil so that plants can absorb them.

Improving Soil Structure

By breaking down old plant matter, mushrooms naturally help to build soil fertility. But those thread-like mushroom filaments also bind soils together, which enhances soil structure, drainage, and moisture retention.

Boosting Plant Health

Because mushrooms make soil nutrients more available to plant roots, grass lawns often grow better with mushrooms around. On top of that, beneficial fungi can outcompete damaging fungi in the soil and make plants more disease-resistant.

Supporting Biodiversity

As decomposers, mushrooms are a valuable part of local ecosystems. But mushrooms also boost the growth of beneficial soil microbes, and some mushrooms are an important food source for insects, white-tailed deer, and small mammals.

Should I Get Rid of Mushrooms in My Lawn?

Once mushrooms appear in the lawn, removal can be tricky since mushrooms have a large network under the soil.

That said, many gardeners may not want to remove mushrooms, since they provide so many benefits to plants. They often go away on their own when the growing conditions change.

If you'd like to speed things along and make your lawn less hospitable to mushrooms:

• Try pruning away a few branches to increase sunlight and improve drainage issues to reduce soggy spots.
• Aerate your soil to eliminate compacted areas, reduce fertilizer and compost use, dethatch your grass, rake up lawn clippings, and remove decaying stumps and other woody bits.
• Mowing down mushrooms or using fungicidal products are not recommended as fungicides are typically ineffective against mushrooms and mowing disperses mushroom spores.
• Handpicking mushrooms into trash bags can also be used if you have poisonous mushrooms like the destroying angel (Aminita bisporigia) or the false parasol (Chlorophyllum molydbites) growing in your lawn and pets or small children are afoot.