[Janette]

We are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO frustrated by all the fairy rings. For the first 2 summers we were here we handpicked all the mushrooms but they are growing tighter together and the rings have multiplied. We are on an acreage and the lawn looks terrible! We even tried film fuel...think that's what DH called it.

Any successes you folks have had with the stuff? I was thinking straight vinegar, or Tide detergent, or bleach, or suggestions, anyone?

 

[Shinsan]

Maybe a fungicide?

Or start a mushroom farm.
(Odds on that if you started to make money on them, they'd all die!)

 

[texican]

I wish I had a fairy ring :angel: .

 

[moonwolf]

fairy ring mushrooms or the 'resurrection fungus' , if the species you are talking about might be Marismius oreades. It's an edible fungi you can read about on this link:

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/mar2003.html

These can be some of the oldest living organisms that propagate and live by the undergrown growth you'll probably never get rid of. It could be there is an underground rotting wood source they like, which I also have them growing in an area that peaty and woody earth was brought in to cover with top soil and seeded to grass. If it's there, it will likely be there forever. Chemicals might kill some of it off, but it's just easier to live with it. Have grass growing thick. The 'shrooms generally get only so tall above the grass, but if the lawn area is kept faily long, the marismus won't be all that obvious. If anything, I find it a conversation piece of interest and looks interesting from above in the large diameter ring they form. :shrug:

 

[Janette]

I'm not taking any chances eating them. I'll buy my mushrooms, thankyou.

They are an eyesore, for sure. Not pretty AT ALL. Sigh!

 

[SteveD(TX)]

I've never heard of fairy rings. :shrug:

Unless maybe you're talking about the ones exchanged at.....

never mind.

 

[Janette]

Steve...oh you lucky man...never seen a fairy ring? I can't imagine! They're awful. We just noticed ourDD/SIL have one now, too...in the city. At least ours is in the country, off the main drag.

 

[moonwolf]

Janette,
A suggestion I might add regarding your dilemma is to collect a few of the mushrooms and take some pictures of the growth pattern to a nearby university or extension center with a mycologist on board. They can tell you the exact species you are dealing with, and maybe give ideas on controlling it to your satisfaction. :shrug:

 

[mistletoad]

Dig up the lawn - unless you have edible mushrooms in the fairy ring. We used to look for fairy rings as children because that's where the white button mushrooms (Agaricus campestris) grew.

 

[michiganfarmer]

I'm not taking any chances eating them. I'll buy my mushrooms, thankyou.

They are an eyesore, for sure. Not pretty AT ALL. Sigh!

look at it this way. the worse your property looks, the less it is worth, and the less property taxes are.

 

[EDDIE BUCK]

About the only thing to do is rake them every few days to break them off until the rotting wood under ground has run its course.

 

[Guest]

They are interesting. They gradually spead out a bit every year and the ring gets wider. I read that the largest fairy ring in the country covers several states. I know michigan was one but I don't remember the others inside the ring.

 

[Christiaan]

Remember, the visible mushrooms are just the fruiting bodies. The real fungus is all underground as a network of filaments. Get them identified and then you can treat them.
I have some small rings in my lawn that appear to be a small inkycap of some sort.
If you don't have a fairy ring the fairies will do mischief on your place instead of spending the nights dancing in the ring.

 

[Guest]

Remember, the visible mushrooms are just the fruiting bodies. The real fungus is all underground as a network of filaments. Get them identified and then you can treat them.
I have some small rings in my lawn that appear to be a small inkycap of some sort.
If you don't have a fairy ring the fairies will do mischief on your place instead of spending the nights dancing in the ring.

Heck, I wouldn't worry about them then. I was afraid the term " fairy rings " meant a place that attracted gays. :1pig:

 

[EDDIE BUCK]

Heck, I wouldn't worry about them then. I was afraid the term " fairy rings " meant a place that attracted gays. :1pig:

That would make them break out the hoes a shovels. :shrug: I THINK!

 

[Jenn]

I miss them- just read a kids' book about fairies and recall all the lovely large (probably some truly iron age circles not mushroom fairy rings) circles visible from the air in England.

Is there some way you can change the chemistry of your lawn to discourage them? Lime? Improve drainage with tiling? A fungicide is pretty drastic and would not be a permanent fix.

 

[Toads tool]

I'm a fungus head. I love to see any and all little mushroom and toadstool growth in my yard.
The fairy ring mushrooms around here are edible and are button mushrooms wild cousins but I'm like you I'd rather pay for something I know isn't poison.

I look at mushrooms as little flowers and try to enjoy them, before I hit them with the mower.

 

[Paul Wheaton]

Mushrooms like moisture and carbon-heavy organic matter (usually tree duff).

I've seen fairy rings far from any trees (like a soccer field).

I've only seen fairy rings in lawns that were mowed short.

If you mow high, you can water less often and this will dry out a lot of fungi.

As an interesting note: if your lawn is poorly fertilized, take a look at how the grass is so much greener/taller where the ring is. Some fungi will feed surrounding plants. I'm not sure if this is what is happening, or if the fungi is consuming carbons and thus free-ing up nitrogen for the grass.

But there is another thing to try: fertilize around the outside of the ring. If there is more carbon-ish fungi food in your lawn, the extra nitrogen in the fertilizer should tie it up pretty good. Plus, the taller, thicker lawn should be less hospitable.

 

[highlands]

My suspicion is there are buried stumps under the lawn. Is this a new lawn where there used to be woods?