Identification: What is this white stuff in my soil, and will it hurt the Port. Laurels I'm about to plant?

Multiple pictures can be found here: Mystery Material
When I first unearthed it, I thought it was ashes from a burn pile, but that's definitely not it. Some suspect it could be a type of fungus or snow mold. It seems to be most common where there's a piece of wood buried in the soil. I stopped planting because I don't want to expose my laurels to soil if it might be "contaminated." The ground was neglected for several years and is covered with a layer of pine needles and pine cones.
Thanks for any thoughts or advice.
Nate

 

This link suggests that it might be mycelia (the “roots”) of fungi feeding on the pine needles.
Fungi – Keeping It In Check | Walter Reeves: The Georgia Gardener

 

I have a large (Ø>40m) Fairy Ring in my garden, that is caused by a mushroom, possibly Entoloma sinuatum, and the ground beneath the ring is very similar to your sample. The mushroom kills or suppresses most of vegetables and even bushes, like a chokeberry, at the border of the ring, but does not affect plants later, inside the ring.

 

Interesting. What's odd with my situation is I have all of this fungal mycelia but not a mushroom anywhere. I guess you can have one without the other. A bit surprised there haven't been more responses considering the very informed community here.

 

Nate, you will get more replies if you attach photos instead of links to photos. I never click on links from new members due to their inherent risks, unless several other members have already checked them out.

 

Hi vitog, thanks for the tip, it hadn't occurred to me that people might not know Imgur. Can I attach them to this post or do I need to repost? Thx.

 

Just reply and attach them to the reply. If you need help, you can look at Attach photos and files.

 

Thanks wcutler. Here's the photos...

 

That definitely looks like the mycelium of some kind of fungus, assuming that it was not exposed to daylight. If you leave it alone, you might get some interesting mushrooms, but not necessarily. Some types of fungi need special, rare conditions before entering a fruiting phase.