I have noticed that one of my roses wasn't doing to well, but couldn't really put my finger on what the matter was. However, today I noticed a tiny palm starting to grow up in the soil. When I went to yank it out I could hardly pull it out. This seemed odd, because this happens all the time and they are normally very easy to get rid of.

Anyway, I pulled the mulch back away from the plant and there is this really dense mycelial mat that is very fiberous around the plant. I went and head tried to water and I see the water just pools on top of the mat and takes a very long time to go through this mat.

I would really like to irradicate (sp) this stuff. It takes over my compost pile.... turning it into nothing but a mat.... leaving no soil....

Early this spring I wanted to plant a hibiscus in the front yard and it was harder digging than clay. The Mat was a good six to seven inches and neither a sharp shove or spade would cut through this awful stuff. I had to rip it out by hand. It was a good 15 to 20 inches deep and maybe 10 ft by 8 ft. ( Yes, that was much bigger than the whole I need for my hibiscus, but I didn't want that stuff there. Now, I notice I have another patch and it seems to be taking over my roses. I don't think I can pull it out without affecting the the roots of the plant. The way the mat was in the front yard, this is probably all webbed around its roots. Also, I don't know how far or wide this mat goes until I start digging. But I am afraid if I do nothing the mat will continue to spread into the other bushes.

This stuff is very nasty.... Help. I love my roses and don't want to lose them.

Thanks for any help.