Mushrooms often sprout up in turf after heavy rain or during humid weather. This is a sign of rotting decaying material in the lawn and mushrooms are an important part of the decomposition process in the garden.
Often the mushrooms are living on something buried in the ground such as old tree roots, or in new subdivisions, on scrap building materials left below the lawn. They also help break down manure and thatch in the lawn producing materials useful to the grass.
The mushroom is the flower of a much larger plant (mycelium) growing in the soil and whilst this might appear unsightly to some people, is a valuable plant to the lawn. It is short lived, usually dropping spores and then withering in a couple of days. The flower can either be left or removed. The number of mushrooms can be reduced by removing the rotting material. There is no spray available to kill it. Lawn fungicides sold in the garden center control fungi that grow in the grass plant and do not affect mushrooms.
