Xtremehorticulture

This Thing in My Lawn and Dwarf Fig

Q. This thing is throughout my lawn and I don’t know what
it is. Can you tell by the picture? I also want a dwarf fig and the local
nurseries do not carry them. I looked on the web and found several and
wondering what one you might recommend.

A. The lawn grass picture is not something that I
recognize immediately. The first two things that come to mind are the mushrooms
that pop up in lawns after some rains and during the cool times of the year and
earthworms surfacing and pushing up soil.

            It is
hard to see it from the picture but the mushrooms make the most sense. These do
not look like typical mushrooms since they don’t have the caps that normal
mushrooms have and so homeowners immediate response is to say no it’s not a
mushroom.

            These
mushrooms come from decaying organic material in the soil like woody soil
amendments were buried or even dying roots from trees and shrubs. Sometimes
they look like vomit (sorry for being coarse) on the lawn or wood mulch. They
will disappear with the heat and as they exhaust the supply of wood in the
soil.

            If it is
the mushroom then just destroy the mushrooms with a rake turned upside down. If
it is earthworms, jump up and down for joy (not on the lawn) and punch some
more holes in the lawn with an aerator. I don’t think I was much help on this
one.

            Blackjack
fig is a good one and stays somewhat small and I see it in most nurseries.

3 thoughts on “This Thing in My Lawn and Dwarf Fig”

  1. Look more like puff balls to me. If you disturb them do a bunch of black spores come out—black interior? I'd leave them alone unless you want to spread them—though that will happen anyway.

    I will second the Black Jack fig. Tasty, and dwarfed compared to most figs—but still looking at a tree that can get up to 12 feet tall unless you keep it pruned smaller.

  2. Hi, I also have something very similar on my lawn. It appears every morning in a new spot for the last couple of weeks. I was thinking it was from an animal – some sort of cat or raccoon vomit maybe, but your post is making me wonder. I also set up a camera last night and didn't see anything but sure enough there were two new "droppings" or "mushrooms" or whatever they are on my lawn this morning. While the top part becomes white/yellow and hard in the sun, the under layer is gooey when it's fresh and eventually turns black. If I don't remove it right away, it creates this terrible black powder that is impossible to clean. It also sticks to and stains all of the grass it comes in contact with. How do I get rid of it???
    Thanks so much!!

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