Mushrooms are fruiting bodies of fungi in the soil. The fruiting bodies often appear in spring, and late summer when it's wet.

IDENTIFICATION
Mushrooms get their food from soil organic matter. You often see them in areas where rotting wood, such as stumps, roots, limbs, and boards, are buried in the lawn. Mushrooms and toadstools that grow in arcs or circles are called fairy rings. Fairy rings enlarge from three inches to two feet each season, as the fungi grow outward.

• Proper fertilization and watering will mask symptoms of fairy ring, but will not cure it.
• Replacing the infested soil suppresses fairy rings but is not a practical solution for most lawns. It is very labor intensive.
• You can break off mushrooms or toadstools with a garden rake. They will then dry out quickly, or can be picked up.

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