Those toadstools, puffballs, earth-stars and other fungi springing up now can alarm gardeners. Digging out fungi or applying fungicides is futile and counterproductive, as fungi are vital for soil fertility and plant health, and support creatures including beetles, woodlice and worms, which in turn feed frogs, birds and other garden wildlife.

Potential harm to children and pets is not borne out by experience. However, where pets or young children might eat them, sweeping up and disposing of fungi in the compost bin or green waste is a sensible precaution.

Only a very few are significant garden problems that have to be managed – the honey-coloured toadstools of honey fungus, lawn fairy rings and bracket fungi on trees, for example. The rest are welcome in gardens, unlike mildews and oth

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