In my second prayer to the sun gods today, I hereby beg for the sun to shine directly on – and with all its might – our yard. This pesky weather has caused all sorts of turmoil in our gardening attempts, including the sprouting of some very unwelcome fungi in our otherwise green and happy lawn.
I hate to concede any points to the ‘shrooms, but word is that they are actually beneficial to the lawn. Their big root system helps break down organic materials so that nutrients are more easily released to the grass.
Perhaps you’re thinking, what’s the big deal, lady? You’re getting extra nutrients. Well, we have a hairy mutt named Jack that eats grass regularly. We think he knows that mowing a big yard is lots of work and he wants to help out. And in addition to grass, he will eat any and everything else he gets his big jowls on – sticks, rocks, leaves, etc. I have no reason to believe mushrooms are not equally appealing.
Yummy!
Unfortunately, authorities on the subject are clear: Dogs + fungi = bad news. Even just licking one can make him sick. “They” say that parasol-shaped mushrooms and small brown mushrooms are the most threatening to canines. Well, swell. Aren’t ours small, brown, parasol-shaped mushrooms? And it doesn’t help that we’ve been ignorantly kicking them out of the yard. This act spreads the spores, which will create even more parasol-shaped monsters.
So our only plan of action is this: Reduce the moisture. Well, duh. We can only turn off our sprinklers and wait for the sun to shine. We also need to dig up the existing fungi and check for new sprouts each morning before we let Jack out. Yeah, that’ll happen.
In short, we are completely at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Have you found any way to rid the yard of mushrooms when the sun goes away? Any tricks to keeping a inquisitive dog away from them?
