Unusual growth in lawn - Ask Extension
Each fall I get several of these appearing in my lawn. Sometimes there is a single one or they can appear in clusters. They can be broken up using a ...
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Unusual growth in lawn #375773
Asked November 07, 2016, 3:25 PM EST
Each fall I get several of these appearing in my lawn. Sometimes there is a single one or they can appear in clusters. They can be broken up using a tool and are pretty tough. They appear to be some kind of fungi but they are pretty tough. If you break them open they have a brown powdery substance (spores maybe) in them. There seem to be more each fall. Can you tell me what they are and what I should use to control them?
The one in the picture is about 5 inches long on the wide axis. Some clusters get larger.
Howard County Maryland
Expert Response
You are correct. They are commonly called 'puffballs' and are a type of mushroom/fungi.
They are harmless and there is no need for control. If you don't like them, simply either kick them over when young or remove them and throw them away.
If you leave them be they eventually open and 'puff' like smoke, the tiny spores into the wind.
They are one kind in the interesting array of oddities of form that fungi can display, but only under just the right environmental circumstances.
cm
They are harmless and there is no need for control. If you don't like them, simply either kick them over when young or remove them and throw them away.
If you leave them be they eventually open and 'puff' like smoke, the tiny spores into the wind.
They are one kind in the interesting array of oddities of form that fungi can display, but only under just the right environmental circumstances.
cm
