Toadstools & Fungi

Fungi live in all parts of the world, and there are hundreds, possibly thousands, in lawn turf.

Fungi are the most active of all micro-organisms in lawn turf. They degrade thatch and other organic debris, supply the lawn turf with nutrients, and sometimes cause disease on the lawn turf.

It is a bad idea to try to eliminate fungi from lawn turf. They belong in the lawn turf, and are part of the reason that a lawn will be beautiful, if cared for. Most of the fungi in lawn turf are difficult to see, but there are some that will display themselves.

Toadstools are common in lawn turf, woods, pastures, and most places where there is dead plant material. The fungi that produce toadstools also degrade dead plant material.

You may see toadstools in your newly laid lawn turf, because during the harvesting process the roots and fibre layer of the lawn turf are cut and begin to be broken down by micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi. This is a normal biological process.

The fungus which lives in newly laid lawn turf produces characteristic toadstools which are invariably small and brown. They may persist for a few weeks at most, but will then disappear.

The toadstool is not the main part of a fungus. Fungi grow very fine threads called mycelium. Sometimes you can see the mycelium on the leaves of lawn turf. It will look like cotton, and disappears as the sun dries it. Certain fungi will occasionally produce toadstools.

Toadstools are the structures that produce the seed of the fungus. Toadstools themselves are not bad, but the fungus that produces them could cause your lawn turf some problems.

There are two main reasons that toadstools develop:

• Your lawn turf has too much thatch.
• There is buried debris under your turf.

To cure the problem:

Remove a significant quantity of the thatch by scarification and reduce the amount of fertiliser you are applying.

Dig under clumps of toadstools and look for plant debris. If it is there, your toadstools are growing from that, not your lawn turf. If you do find such debris under the lawn turf, dig it out and replace it.