Easy trick: Collect & discard!

Beyond that, they don't hurt or damage anything.

Do they mean something about soil conditions?I have this happen on occasion.

It means that temperature and moisture conditions are correct for the fungus to put up a mushroom. It just happens!

It's been very wet, and that make mushrooms grow. Often there is dead woody tree under the ground, that makes them grow.They like to grow on wood, but some like to grow in lawns. They will also grow on fenses if the wood is untreated and getting old, but they only grow on wood that is already rotting. They will also grow in pine tree litter. So, if you really want to get rid of them, collect the growth material, and put that in the green city compost bin. They won't come back. The part you see the fruiting part. The actually plant is underneath the fruit or mushroom part, and very hard to see. They may look like white fibers if you can see them at all.

Here is a link that might be useful: San Francisco Mushroom Society

jean001; tropical thught

@jean001 - thanks for responding!

@tropical thought - wow. everything you've said makes total sense! i'm completely surrounded by pine trees and their needles, and what's more significant - we have several tree stumps buried under the dirt in that very area, and their roots run everywhere! which is why we had to chop them down, the roots were destroying our patio and the fences.... i did love those trees though. i digress... so then i guess i'll just try to dig them up as i don't want them in that area. but they won't hurt anything, right?

thanks again everyone!

That's correct. They won't do anything.

If the stumps/roots were mine, I'd leave them be. Why do unnecessary work? Nature's crew, including that fungus, will get rid of them for you in their own good time.

My orchard had four stumps from Douglas firs removed when the house was built(the wood was used to build the house). Each stump was about four feet in diameter. Getting rid of them "in their own good time" took almost fifty years. With the hillside location a stump grinder would have been difficult. Al

Actually, I consider mushrooms a sign of good soil health.

Lady bug Mom, do you mean you will get rid of the mushrooms or of the stump? If you get rid of the stump, you will probably get rid of most of the mushrooms. But, you could get some more mushrooms growing from the roots of the stumps buried under the ground. Sometimes just pine needles can create mushrooms. If you also were to clean up/compost the pine needles if would be better, but that's a lot of work, and pine needles take a long time to compost. Pine needles are good for keeping the weeds down. I would take mushrooms instead of weeds any day. But, I like mushrooms.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mushroom growing in pine needles

hey tropical thought - OH NO! just the mushrooms! because i'm a newbie i had no idea what their appearance meant, was it a good or bad thing, should i be concerned.

thanks to your excellent explanation, i totally get it and have no problem with them.... besides, i love mushrooms too!

You just love to LOOK at them, right? Please don't eat mushrooms from your garden.
Renee

thanks renee, no, i'd never eat them, lol! thanks to tropical thought, it all makes sense, where they're growing is where the two old trunks are and all they're roots. it happens to be the area i'm planting/prepping for flowers.

You may want to have your soil pH checked. Sounds like your acid level is high and so your soil favors fungus over bacteria. You may need to raise your pH level by dropping down some lime dust. If this is the case you will also enjoy other benfits, like a healthier lawn...

Fungi are decomposers, part of the food web. They are as prevalent as bacteria. They're more common around trees than around annual plants. This is because, as decomposers, they need a lot of food to get their 'roots' into. Those 'roots' are called mycelium, and can stretch for miles! When the mycelium mat is ready, it pushes up mushrooms which spread spores. That's how they reproduce.

You're going to see mushrooms from time to time when the weather is right. They're a natural part of our world. Most are not good for you, so don't touch them with your bare skin. But they're good to have around, because they mean that they're breaking down high-nutrient tough wood into smaller parts, so those parts can enter the food chain and become part of your plant's food. To try to remove the mushrooms entirely would be silly -- you'd have to sterilize your soil and everything that lands on your soil -- and removing their food would take that fertility out of your land.

If I were you, I'd kick the mushrooms over and let them wither back into the soil, not letting kids or dogs step on them. Job done.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world