Since we've had some decent rains lately, you may notice an increase in the number of mushrooms that just seem to pop up in your yard. And most of you wonder where they came from and how to get rid of them.

The part of the fungus that we see is the mushroom or toadstool that actually is just the fruiting body or reproductive structure of the actual fungus. They contain the spores or fungus seeds that produce more fungus. We don't usually see the actual fungus that lives underground.

Many of these mushrooms come from fungus feeding on old tree roots that are slowly decomposing in the soil. You may not even know there had been a tree in that location, but often that is the case. These fungi can live in the soil for years and only produce mushrooms when the conditions are right. Warm, humid weather with heavy rainfall often brings them up.

If you have some wood chip mulch around your flowerbed or perhaps in a shady area, you may also notice little toadstools start jumping out of the soil. These are likely the result of decomposition from the wood chips. Often people get concerned that their children or pets might eat the toadstools and become sick. That is a possibility because some mushrooms are poisonous, but normally these aren't. Your best bet is to just take a rake and break them off, or mow them off in case they come up in your turf.

Recently a friend asked me to look at some strange growths that showed up in their flowerbed that was heavily mulched with cypress bark. Some of it looked like dog vomit, and another batch looked like some kind of slime. I told them there was a fungus among us. Actually, these are called slime molds and are not a fungus. They normally are flat in structure and may be yellow, brown, gray, white or red. They usually disappear in about a week. You can just pick them out in a clump and dispose of them.

Bottom line is that these mushrooms are common and normally don't hurt much. Mow them off, rake them out and don't worry about them. But don't slice them up and mix them in an omelet unless you really know what kind they are.

Plants need fertilizer

Someone mentioned the other day that his tomatoes just were not very big this year. I asked if they fertilized them this year. No, they said. Well, all living things need some type of nourishment, and plants get nutrients from the soil as well as fertilizer.

You need to fertilize your garden as well as your flowers. I still think 12-12-12 is a good well-balanced fertilizer. I usually figure a one-pound coffee can full of this fertilizer will cover a garden spot of 10 by 10 feet. I usually fertilize in the spring and then again in June or July.

Roses also need fertilizer in the spring and again in June or so. Figure about ½ cup of fertilizer per species plant. Normally, do not apply fertilizer after the middle of August to roses.

Now is the time to:

- Celebrate our country's independence.

- Take a family vacation.

- Pull weeds before they go to seed. Crabgrass and watergrass are really growing now.

- Prune climbing roses after they bloom.

Call of the week

This person wanted to bring me some monster green bugs that were about 4 times the size of a Japanese beetle. I told him not to bother. They are called green June bugs. They buzz like a bee and fly slowly and kind of erratic. They do eat some leaves but generally are not a problem. They don't bite, either. Keep them and use them for fish bait.

Stuart Hawbaker can be reached at hrnews@herald-review.com.