Fungi in the lawn are usually not a serious threat, but they can definitely disturb the appearance of the lawn. Below we present the most common fungal diseases that can affect lawns and which countermeasures are suitable.

Mushrooms appear on damp lawns, especially in autumn

Table of Contents

Show all
  1. the essentials in brief
  2. mushroom species
  3. remove mushrooms
  4. fungicides
  5. Causes of fungi
  6. Mushroom Seasons
  7. Avoid care mistakes
  8. frequently asked Questions

    9. the essentials in brief

    • Cap mushrooms are mostly harmless to the lawn and even have a decorative value; Fungal diseases, on the other hand, should be treated
    • Fungal diseases are favored by permanent wetness, too little light, poorly ventilated lawns and acidic soil
    • Fungal diseases can be prevented by good lawn care such as scarifying, sanding, regular watering and fertilizing and mowing
    • It is generally not advisable to use fungicides, as they are harmful to your own health and that of insects and any pets

    mushroom species

    When it comes to fungi in the lawn, a distinction is made between fungal diseases and hat fungi. Cap fungi, which sometimes appear very suddenly and in heaps in the lawn in late summer and autumn, are usually completely harmless to the lawn, while fungal diseases can kill entire sections of the lawn. In most cases, however, fungal diseases are not really critical or worth fighting immediately. Many will soon disappear of their own accord with a change in weather conditions.

    Here is a brief overview of a selection of fungal diseases and cap fungi that frequently occur in lawns:

    fungal diseases:

    lawn rust red point snow mold dollar spot disease slime molds
    appearance characteristics Rusty-looking yellowish-orange patches on grass blade blades, mottled overall lawn appearance Dried-looking lawn islands, reddish leaf tips Light gray to light brown patches in the lawn, leaves stuck together after snow melts Small dried spots in the lawn Small, greyish-whitish, black or yellow slimy deposits in the lawn
    Educational conditions/at what times of the year Warm, humid weather in summer Lack of nutrients, all year round and especially in summer with high humidity Humid, moderately cold weather in winter In summer on permanently very short lawn In summer in warm, humid weather
    countermeasures/prevention Waiting for dry weather/Regular mowing, watering and fertilizing Fertilize, do not dispose of lawn clippings on the compost Regular aeration by scarifying and sanding, fertilizing in autumn Water more rarely, but extensively, aerate well (scarify, sand), fertilize with potassium in early summer Because it is harmless, no countermeasures are necessary. Scarify, fertilize and water regularly as a preventive measure
    phonies Navellings Tintlinge Bald Krempling Alkaline rouge
    Look Small, round mushrooms with thin-fleshed, brown to white fruiting bodies Small, brown mushrooms with umbrella-like, centrally sunken, roughly lamellar fruiting bodies White mushrooms, acorn-shaped, later bell-shaped fruiting bodies when young, turning black with age Brown-reddish to yellow mushrooms with a medium-sized lamellar cap, relatively fleshy Light brown, sometimes white or red mushrooms, tall stem, flat, sunken to humped umbrella
    Edible? Some species edible Most species inedible The Schopf-Tintling in particular is an excellent, mild-tasting edible mushroom No - toxic No - toxic
    Tendency to witch rings Especially the carnation swindler no no no Yes

    digression

    Witch rings on cap mushrooms

    In the case of hat fungi, damage to the lawn can occur in a specific case, despite their growth behavior not directly affecting the lawn plants: namely in the case of witch rings. A witch ring, also commonly known as a witch circle, is a circular or semi-circular formation of mushroom fruiting bodies. This happens when the mycelium grows out equally quickly in all directions in the middle due to a lack of nutrients.

    A witch ring expands over the years and can lead to discoloration and dry damage in the lawn if no countermeasures are taken. Of the cap mushrooms, however, only about 80 species tend to form witch rings. Among the species occurring in garden lawns are, for example, the carnation swindler, the alkaline russet or the meadow mushroom.

    Correct removal of fungi in the lawn

    fungal diseases

    Many fungal diseases are not really a threat to the lawn and will clear up on their own when the weather changes. Even a period of warm and humid drizzle is over at some point. When it gets drier again, lawn rust, redness and slime mold usually go back quickly and snow mold is also pushed back as soon as it gets warmer and drier again in spring.

    The best way to combat dollar spot disease is to water less frequently and more extensively and deeply. In this way, the lawn can be supplied with sufficient moisture, but still has the opportunity to dry off well in between.

    Basically, you can counteract fungal diseases in the lawn primarily by preventing them. The best way to do this is through the usual care measures that keep the lawn resilient and healthy. So you should regularly:

    • Aeration by scarifying and sanding
    • Water
    • Fertilize
    • mowing

    aeration

    How intensively and how often you have to scarify or sand depends on the site conditions and the soil properties. A heavy loamy soil in a shady location naturally tends to be permanently wet and acidic, which on the one hand creates favorable conditions for fungi and moss and on the other hand weakens the lawn grass and makes it more susceptible to infections. For these measures, it is best to use the visual signals of your lawn as a guide.

    Water

    Watering is a sensitive matter in terms of preventing fungus. On the one hand, the lawn needs an adequate water supply to be healthy, but on the other hand it becomes susceptible to fungi if it is too wet. Therefore, only blast it during prolonged dry periods in summer, preferably in the early morning hours or in the evening when it is no longer directly exposed to the sun.

    Fertilize

    For general lawn health, it is advisable to give it a slow-release fertilizer once in spring and again in late summer. In order to avoid snow mold in winter, it is important to use a potassium-rich fertilizer in the fall.

    tips

    In the period of a fungal disease, mow around the infected areas of the lawn if possible and cut them last. This will prevent the spores from spreading to areas that are still healthy. Dispose of the clippings in the household waste until the fungal disease has subsided.

    cap mushrooms

    If a homogeneous, tidy lawn is important to you, excessively sprouting mushrooms are of course annoying. Most species found in garden lawns appear as small brown, grey, white to orange mushrooms. However, cap mushrooms do not invade the grass plants with their underground mycelium or their fruiting bodies, so they are really only a cosmetic problem.

    In the case of cap fungi, it often happens that many mushrooms suddenly appear in the lawn overnight, so to speak. First of all, that's nothing to worry about. Only when they form so-called witch rings can discoloration and drying damage occur.

    Suitable countermeasures are as follows:

    • Remove the food base from the mushrooms
    • Tear open the mycelium with a fork
    • earth exchange

    remove food source

    If you want to permanently remove cap fungi, you are required to carry out continuous cutting and scarifying care. It is best to mow regularly with a grass catcher and reduce the lawn thatch by scarifying in a grid-like manner. This deprives the mushroom mycelium of the food basis. In addition, it helps to loosen and aerate the soil by sanding.

    But be careful: mowing alone does not help at all with cap mushrooms. On the contrary: They only promote the spread of the spores, while the actual fungus, the subterranean mycelium, remains undamaged. With the result that all the more fruiting bodies then shoot out of the ground.

    Targeted damage to mycelium

    You can also put your hands on the fungus areas in a very targeted manner: Arm yourself with a digging fork, pierce the soil several times at the fungus-infested areas and lift it slightly. This can tear open the mushroom mycelium and cause it to die

    earth exchange

    Soil replacement helps with many fungal diseases

    In the case of clearly demarcated fungal areas, especially in the case of witch rings, replacing the soil can also be an option. To do this, remove the top 30 cm of the soil layer, fill it up with fresh soil and reseed with grass seed of the highest quality possible.

    tips

    In order not to spread the spores of cap fungi unnecessarily, it is advisable (in addition to disposing of the clippings in the household waste) to remove the fruiting bodies by hand before mowing. If it is an edible species, collect something for lunch at the same time.

    fungicides

    In most cases you should not and cannot work with fungicides. No chemical agent is permitted for many fungi that occur in garden lawns. This applies in particular to the cap fungus species. Quite apart from that, it is generally not advisable to use chemical agents, herbicides and fungicides to control unwanted phenomena in the garden. You not only upset the biological balance of your garden but also that of the wider environment.

    Causes of fungus in the lawn

    The causes of fungi in lawns and beds are relatively diverse and are not limited to favorable growth conditions for the fungi. Certain site conditions and care habits can also simply make the lawn too susceptible to it. The main causes of fungal diseases and annoying cap fungus accumulations are as follows:

    • Lawn and air permanently too wet
    • Too little light
    • Matted, poorly aerated lawn
    • soil acidification

    Too wet

    As with all fungal diseases on plants, too humid conditions are the decisive cause of the emergence of fungi in the lawn. If it is permanently too wet, fungi feel particularly comfortable on it. Above all, warm, humid phases in summer with stagnant air are responsible for some fungal diseases. Long-lasting temperatures of 20 to 30°C and constant, drizzle or wet weather in winter create optimal conditions for various fungal diseases.

    Cap mushrooms also like it moist. The risk of fungal growth is particularly high under trees, with which many species form mycorrhic symbioses and under which moisture lasts longer.

    Too little light

    A lack of light does not necessarily promote the spread of fungi, but it weakens the lawn and thus increases its susceptibility to fungi. Under tall, densely crowned trees, the lawn grasses cannot form a strong turf and become porous and permeable to dreaded combinations of disturbances such as fungi plus moss and fungi plus weeds.

    Matted Lawn

    Scarifying predisposes to fungal diseases

    If a dense thatch has formed through years of neglected care without regular scarifying, watering, mowing and fertilizing, the lawn can no longer breathe, making it weaker and less competitive. On the other hand, the lawn thatch forms an ideal breeding ground for fungi. As a prevention against fungi and also in the case of an existing fungal infestation, grid-like scarifying is helpful, with which the lawn thatch is combed out.

    soil acidification

    If, despite good lawn care with sufficient aeration, watering and fertilizing, many mushrooms shoot out of the ground, this can be due to acidification of the soil. Check if the pH is below the lower limit of 5.8 with a simple soil test. If that is the case, offset the value with lime according to the package instructions.

    At what times of the year do fungi appear in the lawn?

    Mushrooms are mainly associated with autumn. However, this association mainly relates to the world of edible mushrooms. But when we talk about fungal diseases in the lawn, summer is the more important season. This is because many of the common fungal lawn diseases develop in warm, humid conditions. Fungi, which are less to be regarded as a disease but can disturb the appearance of the lawn - above all cap mushrooms - actually appear mainly in autumn. Isolated fungal diseases, on the other hand, only occur in winter, even under a closed snow cover.

    Avoid care mistakes

    water too much

    Regular watering is a perfectly correct care measure for a healthy, well-groomed lawn. But you shouldn't overdo it either. If the lawn doesn't get a chance to dry between blasting, lawn rust and red spots have an easy time, especially at temperatures in the 20's. So only irrigate your lawn during prolonged dry periods and preferably in the early morning hours, when the sun is not yet scorching the grass, but its first soft rays can dry it gently.

    too much or wrong mulching

    In principle, mulching the lawn is highly recommended. If you mow frequently and leave the clippings lying around, all the nutrients remain in the lawn soil and can be reused. So you need to supply less additional fertilizer. The activity of microorganisms living in the soil is also stimulated and the turf is compacted, so that typical combinations such as mushrooms plus moss and mushrooms plus weeds have fewer chances.

    Studies have shown that mulch mowing makes the lawn significantly stronger and more vital than conventional mowing (where the clippings are collected in the lawn mower's grass catcher).

    In order for the advantages of mulch mowing to take effect, however, the method must be used correctly. That means: You have to mow regularly and at short intervals (preferably weekly during the growing season). When mowing, the lawn should also be as dry as possible and free of other organic material such as fallen leaves. Clippings that are too long or stuck together with leaves can also clog the lawn and lead to a lack of light and air. This in turn weakens the lawn and increases its risk of infection.

    over-fertilization

    Regular fertilization is recommended for a strong lawn that is more resistant to fungal diseases. But you can also mean too well with the fertilizer application - when it comes to fertilizing, the rule always applies anyway: less is more. Above all, if you fertilize too much nitrogen in the fall, this can quickly lead to snow mold in winter. Long-term fertilization twice is ideal for a lawn area, once in spring and once in autumn. In the fall, you should use a potassium-rich preparation.

    frequently asked Questions

    Which mushrooms in the lawn are edible?

    The carnation swindler (Marasmius oreades) is edible

    Only a few species of the cap mushrooms most commonly found in lawns, the scamps, are edible. In addition, most of them are not very suitable for a decent, substantial mushroom ragout because of their puny size. However, the real garlic swindle is often used as a seasoning mushroom, especially in France, for example in dried form. The spicy-sweet-tasting cloves can also be eaten, which is the best way to counteract its harmful effects on lawns. It is particularly good in mushroom soups, for example.

    Tintlinge are also excellent edible mushrooms and are also richer in substance due to their size. They're great eaten raw in salads or pan-fried. However, you should harvest them in good time before the hat opens up and secretes the eponymous black ink liquid for self-digestion.

    If you're lucky, the kings of edible mushrooms, meadow mushrooms, may also settle in your garden lawn. The versatility of their usability needs no further explanation. However, due to the slight risk of confusion with the highly toxic death cap mushroom, extreme caution is required.

    Which mushrooms in the lawn are poisonous?

    In the case of cap mushrooms, a general distinction is made between edible, inedible and poisonous species. There are also representatives of all these categories among the species that are more common in garden lawns. The bald Krempling and the alkaline Rötling are poisonous.

    The Kahle Krempling contains, among other things, haemolysins and haemagglutinins, which can lead to severe, potentially fatal gastrointestinal inflammation. However, intensive heating destroys the toxins. In addition to the toxins, the Kahle Krempling also contains a dangerous allergen that can lead to the formation of antibodies, which can also be deadly.

    The alkaline russet is also poisonous, but its distinctive smell of ammonia does not exactly invite you to taste it.

    In whose garden certain deciduous trees such as oaks, beeches, chestnuts, birches or hazel grow, the death cap can also settle, which enters into a mycorrhic symbiosis with these trees. As most people know, this fungus is one of the most poisonous species. The amatoxins and phallotoxins contained in its pulp can lead to liver failure and death even in small doses. Even heating does not destroy the toxins.

    The most important distinguishing features of the death cap mushroom from the similar-looking but highly edible meadow mushroom are, on the one hand, the lamellae: these are pure white to greenish in the death cap mushroom, white-pink in the meadow mushroom, later brown and finally black. On the other hand, the stalk tuber of the death cap mushroom, in contrast to that of the meadow mushroom, is surrounded by a thin, slightly greenish skin sheath.

    Are there home remedies for fungus in the lawn?

    Using home remedies in the garden is generally not particularly advisable. Many of the remedies that you have in the household often have more ecologically problematic side effects than harm-reducing benefits against unwanted phenomena in the garden. No special home remedies have proven effective against fungi.

Category:

Garden design