QuickTake:

Mushrooms are doing a lot of work, decomposing organic matter. And dandelions are just good to eat.

Sometimes, something you think is bad for your yard or garden is actually good for it. I’ll share two often reviled beneficial garden creatures, and challenge you to come up with a third.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms growing in the lawn are breaking down organic matter — lawn clippings, a dead tree root or something else your plants can’t use directly. The mushrooms are making it available for healthy plant growth.

Mushrooms growing in the yard are usually helping to break down organic material that other plants like grass cannot directly use. Credit: John Fischer

The mushroom you see on the surface is only a small part of a much larger underground organism that can weigh hundreds of pounds. And the underground mycelium are masters at breaking down dead plant parts, and making sure the nutrients in them get used over and over again.

It’s fine to just mow over the mushrooms if you like. And if you have young kids, make sure they don’t eat them, but very few are poisonous. They are just doing an essential job in the soil.

Dandelions

Lots of gardeners are frustrated with dandelions. But I’m frustrated when I don’t see enough. The long tap root of the dandelion brings minerals and other nutrients back into the upper portion of the topsoil where shallow-rooted plants — like your corn and grass — can access them.

Equally important — especially this time of year — dandelion leaves are a great salad green. Choose the tender young leaves. Avoid picking greens off a plant that is blooming, or about to. Mix them with arugula, beet leaves and other winter greens, and you can have fresh salad a year long. Adding in a bit of store-bought lettuce may make your weedy salad more palatable to less adventurous eaters.

A dandelion salad with a variety of other greens.

Many people also cook dandelion greens — like you’d cook spinach, or sauteed with onions. While my main use is as a salad green, I sometimes I cook them first and add them to an omelet.

So, the next time you see mushrooms or dandelions growing in your yard, give them a “low five” and be happy that they are helping out your garden — for free.

Do you have another plant, animal or fungus that people love to hate even though it is a good actor? Let me know, and I’ll share your special helpers with the Lookout gardening community.