Question
I have this growth in the garden which I thought it was a fungus of some sort, someone told me it was too much nutrients in the soil, possibly from too much furtilizer. Is it harmful?  It is bubbly looking white/yellowish plastic looking on top, when you poke through the "crust" it is like brown powdery underneath, no roots, you can just scrape it off the mulch. What is it, and is it harmful, how to I keep it away?
thanks for any help you can give.


Answer
Hi Kathy,
Isn't is cool?  It's a slime mold.  Sounds terrible but it is totally harmless to your plants.  Some grow so rapidly that they can grow over a small stump in a day. It's quite common on decomposing mulch.  Blast it apart with your waterhose or just rake the surface to break it up.  It may come back, but just blast it again.
Have a great gardening day.
Jim Crowder