We have had alot of cool wet weather lately. I now have little patches of mushrooms popping up all over the lawn. I also have perfectly round circles of different mushrooms between my spruce trees. I think I once read something somewhere about "fairy rings" but not sure if that is what this is. Is there something I should be doing about all these mushrooms?

Oh boy! I should have looked a little longer at the posts here! I just found Rosepetals post with the very same question! Geeze

Most of the time, when you have mushrooms
it is from some kind of decomposing wood product..
Tree limbs, etc.. under the dirt..
Decomposing roots, or bark.. that sort of things..

I get them every year where they cut a tree down
and ground up the stump..

And I get them under my 3 1/2 story high trees that are on the side of my house.. when they drop branches, white pine leaves, pine cones, etc.... all the time..

While Weezie is correct many fungi are decomposers, fungi are the only organism that can degrade wood. However there is a group of fungi that have symbiotic relationship with trees, called mycorrhizae, all trees that have been looked at have this relationship. In this case the fungi gets carbohydrates from the tree and the fungi provides help in absorbing minerals and provide some protection from pathogens. For what its worth there is a third group of fungi that are parasitic. the wonderful world of fungi!

Thanks Arctostaphylos, but how do I know which one I have? The first rings I found are now gone but there seems to be a new ring further over in the grass. They are BIG rings, several yards across.

well it sure sounds like "fairy rings" however the way mushrooms are identified is by "spore prints" take the cap put it under a glass wait a few hours then remove the glass and you will see a collection of spores that have been collected. Fairy ring mushrooms (Marasminus thujinus) have a white spore print. Due to the massive number of mushrooms out there positive ID is very important. if indeed its fairy ring mushrooms they are choice edibles. I cannot recall for sure but I think these are decomposers. As to what to do about mushrooms in general, bare in mind that the mushroom is simply the fruiting body the actual fungi lives in the soil so unless you find them unattrative I would just sit back and enjoy them.

OK, thanks again Arctostaphylos