I so wish some one can help me with this awful problem. About 4 years
ago I had to have a huge Norway Maple cut down on my front lawn. (A
strong windstorm had blown most of the branches down onto my roof and
porch.) The wood cutter at my request left wood chips in the hole
left by grinding down the stump. I didnt know that was the wrong
thing to do. I filled the remainder with soil and compost. Everything
i have planted in the space has died. Last spring I covered it with
sod. It died. The circumfrence of the arid area is getting smaller
but it is infested with rock-hard mushrooms that look like chili
pizza. The last advice Ive gotten is to plant a southern magnolia, a
sumac, and Carex ornimental grass. I did that yesterday. I was also
told that the plantings will need more nitrogen than usual because the
wood chips suck nitrogen out of the soil. When I dug down a foot to
plant the magnolia, there was perfectly good soil with many
earthworms. Could it be the soul of the tree that has come back to
haunt me? Cause I dont know how to get grass to grow in that spot.
Here a shot of the mushrooms. How can I make them go away. If you
click on the "sizes button" you see a close up of the top and bottom
sides of these darn mushrooms. I would greatly appreciate all
advice. Thanks, Dorothy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cardarc...7622244145345/

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:14:36 -0700 (PDT), Dorothy Iams
wrote:

I so wish some one can help me with this awful problem. About 4 years
ago I had to have a huge Norway Maple cut down on my front lawn. (A
strong windstorm had blown most of the branches down onto my roof and
porch.) The wood cutter at my request left wood chips in the hole
left by grinding down the stump. I didnt know that was the wrong
thing to do.

Actually that is usual and what stump grinders typically do, if you're
lucky... some just leave a mess. You need to be patient, it can take
up to ten years for a large maple stump to totally decay. If you can
cover the area with a large planter or even a table, something to
shade and keep it moist the stump will decay quicker.

I filled the remainder with soil and compost.

Could be those additions are what harbored those fungi spores,
especially since you never saw them previously... where did the soil
and compost come from? Sometimes decaying stumps will act as a host
for spores already present... not anything you can do about that. It's
near impossible to eliminate fungi, anything you do to rid the area of
them will prevent anything else from growing there.... it's best to
let them simply run their course, many appear only every so many
years... perhaps those that popped up will be gone once the stump is
completely composted. Typically fungi fruiting bodies are very short
lived, they will probably be gone in a few days. It's difficult to
believe that you can't get anything to grow in a spot *near* where a
healthy maple was growing... naturally you are not going to get much
else but a few weeds to grow atop the stump and the immediate
surrounding area, the roots will extend quite a distance from the
stump. Unless you are willing to call in a backhoe to dig up the
entire stump and root system and till in amendments to the whole area
then you will just need to wait. I had a very large crimson king
Norway maple removed some seven years ago and still grass won't grow
atop the stump during dry spells... I just don't look at it... I think
of it as a couple square feet of lawn I don't need to mow. Be
thankful it's maple and not cedar. I planted a copper leafed beech
some 20 feet away and it's doing great.

snip
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cardarc...7622244145345/

On 9/14/2009 2:14 PM, Dorothy Iams wrote:
I so wish some one can help me with this awful problem. About 4 years
ago I had to have a huge Norway Maple cut down on my front lawn. (A
strong windstorm had blown most of the branches down onto my roof and
porch.) The wood cutter at my request left wood chips in the hole
left by grinding down the stump. I didnt know that was the wrong
thing to do. I filled the remainder with soil and compost. Everything
i have planted in the space has died. Last spring I covered it with
sod. It died. The circumfrence of the arid area is getting smaller
but it is infested with rock-hard mushrooms that look like chili
pizza. The last advice Ive gotten is to plant a southern magnolia, a
sumac, and Carex ornimental grass. I did that yesterday. I was also
told that the plantings will need more nitrogen than usual because the
wood chips suck nitrogen out of the soil. When I dug down a foot to
plant the magnolia, there was perfectly good soil with many
earthworms. Could it be the soul of the tree that has come back to
haunt me? Cause I dont know how to get grass to grow in that spot.
Here a shot of the mushrooms. How can I make them go away. If you
click on the "sizes button" you see a close up of the top and bottom
sides of these darn mushrooms. I would greatly appreciate all
advice. Thanks, Dorothy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cardarc...7622244145345/

If you must really eliminate the "mushrooms", dust the area with soil
sulfur and then dig it in about just an inch. Sulfur is a fungicide,
and the "mushrooms" are fungus.

However, sulfur will slow the composting process going on in that area
since composting depends in part on fungus. If it were my own garden, I
would leave the fungus alone. Eventually, all the wood chips will be
compost; and the fungus will then stop growing.

In the meantime, add a high-nitrogen fertilizer to the area. Not only
will that replace the nitrogen that is tied up in composting the wood
chips, but it will also speed the composting.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:14:36 -0700 (PDT), Dorothy Iams
wrote:

I so wish some one can help me with this awful problem. About 4 years
ago I had to have a huge Norway Maple cut down on my front lawn. (A
strong windstorm had blown most of the branches down onto my roof and
porch.) The wood cutter at my request left wood chips in the hole
left by grinding down the stump. I didnt know that was the wrong
thing to do. I filled the remainder with soil and compost. Everything
i have planted in the space has died. Last spring I covered it with
sod. It died. The circumfrence of the arid area is getting smaller
but it is infested with rock-hard mushrooms that look like chili
pizza. The last advice Ive gotten is to plant a southern magnolia, a
sumac, and Carex ornimental grass. I did that yesterday. I was also
told that the plantings will need more nitrogen than usual because the
wood chips suck nitrogen out of the soil. When I dug down a foot to
plant the magnolia, there was perfectly good soil with many
earthworms. Could it be the soul of the tree that has come back to
haunt me? Cause I dont know how to get grass to grow in that spot.
Here a shot of the mushrooms. How can I make them go away. If you
click on the "sizes button" you see a close up of the top and bottom
sides of these darn mushrooms. I would greatly appreciate all
advice. Thanks, Dorothy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cardarc...7622244145345/


The fungus is a good sign you have rich organic matter and the fungus
helps the decomposition of the tree reamins. That's good. Rather
have mushrooms than termites. I can see your fungus would not win a
beauty contest, though.