Many gardeners take lots of time and care over their lawns and gardens. Therefore, it can be infuriating to find mushrooms growing in your nicely cared for lawns and gardens. Not only do mushrooms not look the most attractive, yet they can also pose a risk to your pets or children. In this article we will be learning how to get rid of mushrooms in your lawns and garden. Also we will say what kind of mushrooms are growing in your lawns and garden.
What kind of mushrooms are you finding in your garden?
You may notice that there are mushrooms growing in your garden, but not know what species they are. There are quite a few mushrooms that can grow on lawns and gardens. Below we have put together the most common mushrooms you may find growing on your lawns and in your gardens.
Green Spored Lepiota
This is a type of lawn mushroom, which is known to be very toxic to humans and pets. This type of mushroom can be up to 10 inches high and span 2 to 4 inches wide. This is a thick white mushroom that has white gills. As the green spored lepiota matures, its white color starts to become a green-grey color. You may notice this type of mushroom in the southern regions of the country, but it is very common throughout America.
Fairy Rings
There are over 60 different species of mushrooms that will form fairy rings in your garden. This formation will begin when there is a central food source like a rotting tree stump. The mushrooms will then begin to grow in circles around the food source.
Lawyer’s Wig
This type of mushroom has a couple of different names. It is also known as the Coprinus or the shaggy ink cap. This species of mushroom grows in a tall cylinder, with shaggy looking edges. These shaggy makes the mushroom look like a wig and what gives this mushroom its name. This type of mushroom will release spores and after it has released its spores it will die. When this type of mushroom is ready to release its spores, there is a very noticeable difference. The mushroom will go from white to a very deep black color.
Puffball
A puffball mushroom doesn’t have any type of stem that is seen regularly with other types of mushrooms. There is no cap or gills either. As the name suggests, this mushroom looks like a puffball, which can grow up to a foot wide. If you happen to accidentally step on a puffball mushroom you may notice a small dark cloud of brown spores released from the top of the mushroom.
Why do Mushrooms grow in lawns and gardens?
Mushrooms are a type of fungi that can be seen as a type of toadstool. They can grow in a wide range of different shapes and sizes. Mushrooms thrive in dark and damp environments that also have lots of decaying matter. There are mushrooms that you can eat, but you must always be wary of mushrooms unless you are a professional. This is because a lot of species of mushrooms are poisonous or could make you very ill.
In some gardens it is common to see dead leaves, old tree branches and decaying tree trunks. All of these are great sources of food for mushrooms to grow from. Alongside this poorly drained gardens or gardens and lawns with a lot of shade are ideal places for mushrooms to grow.
If you have an animal such as a dog or cat, the waste these animals produce, also provide mushrooms with a food source to grow from. Hence, there are a few reasons why mushrooms might be growing in your lawn or garden, but they can be treated or halted from growing in the first place.
How do mushrooms spread in your lawn or garden?
The way that mushrooms reproduce is through spores. These spores are released by mature mushrooms and they are carried through the wind. They will then land once the wind stops and start growing somewhere else.
It is believed that mushrooms have their own natural wind which they use to help them spread their spores when they are ready. The natural wind has carried the spores four inches up and out from the mushroom. However, the conditions have to be right for the mushrooms to release their spores. Mushrooms will wait until the conditions are perfect before they release the spores to start a new colony.
How to get rid of mushrooms in your lawn and garden
As mentioned above there are a few varieties of mushrooms that you can see growing in your lawn or gardens, and there are a couple of reasons as to why this is happening. There are multiple ways to get rid of mushrooms from your garden or lawn. You can try just one method or a combination of a few of these methods. However there will be a method that will suit you.
Mushrooms might look attractive or interesting, but some can pose huge life risks to you, your family and your pets. Therefore, it is best to get rid of any mushrooms that you find growing in your garden or lawn for everyone’s safety.
Uproot them
You can manually uproot them, but make sure that you dig up everything. You don’t want anything left in the soil otherwise the mushrooms can just grow back. Wear gloves, as you don’t want to get any spores of the mushroom on your hands, as that could make you ill.
Ideally you want to remove them as soon as you see them starting to grow. You want to uproot them, before they have a chance to release any spores. Which then makes your mushroom issue even worse.
Dispose of any visible mushrooms that you come across and clean the area afterwards. You don’t want to leave any decaying matter or spores behind, otherwise you will find that the mushrooms just grow back. This method is a lot of work, but you will find that with a lot of these methods you will have to manually pick them afterwards. Except with this method you also need to clean the area afterwards as well.
Fungicide
You can use a type of fungicide on your garden or lawn to treat any mushrooms that you see. Spreading a fungicide will kill the roots of the mushroom underneath the soil, which should then stop the mushrooms from growing. However, you will need to physically remove what is left of the mushrooms, as the fungicide only kills the roots and doesn’t touch the mushroom that is above the ground.
There are a lot of fungicides on the market that can treat both your lawns and gardens against mushrooms. However, you must be careful of some brands as they can contain harmful chemicals towards humans and especially pets. This is why it is best to stay away from the treated area after you have sprayed the mushrooms. Once everything is dry then you can let your children and pets outside.
A fungicide isn’t a permanent solution. You will see the amount of mushrooms popping up decrease over time. However, this won’t put a stop to mushrooms on your lawn or in your garden forever. This method works well alongside other preventive methods.
Vinegar
Instead of using a fungicide you can use vinegar instead. Vinegar is seen as a much more natural mushroom killer as it does not contain any other harmful chemicals inside. Your normal household vinegar and cooking vinegar are a bit too diluted to work well in this instance. Instead you need to use horticultural vinegar, which tends to be a higher strain of vinegar that you may be used to.
As horticultural vinegar is very strong, you will need to dilute it according to its instructions to the right strength that you need. This is a very strong strain of vinegar, therefore it is recommended to wear gloves and protective eye wear when working with this vinegar. This is due to the fact that this vinegar can burn your skin if it gets into contact.
Just put the diluted vinegar into a spray bottle and spray the mushrooms. This vinegar will kill the mushrooms, but you need to be mindful where you spray this solution. As this solution can also kill any surrounding grass that it comes into contact with. Hence, if you want to use this solution on your lawns you need to be careful how much you spray. However, this spray can also affect any other plants that it comes in contact with. Therefore, use with caution, but this vinegar will help you with your mushroom problem.
Nitrogen Fertilizer
When it comes to fertilizing your garden or lawn, try using a nitrogen based fertilizer. These kinds of fertilizers will prevent more mushrooms from appearing. It is known that mushrooms feed off any form of decaying matter in your soil, therefore by adding nitrogen to your soil you increase the speed of decaying. The quicker the decomposition, then equals to a quicker and shorter mushroom life cycle.
This is a simple and safe way to help destroy mushrooms quickly. Always follow the instructions on the nitrogen based fertilizer as you don’t want to add too much to your garden or lawn. Too much nitrogen can affect your plants and some kinds of grasses if you aren’t careful.
Remove Decaying Matter
Mushrooms feed off decaying matter so a great way to stop them growing on your lawn or garden is to remove any decaying matter. Once the decaying matter has finished its own cycle, then the mushrooms will naturally die and disappear by themselves.
Hence by removing any decaying matter like rotting branches or tree stumps, grass clippings or animal waste, this will stop any mushrooms from growing. Remove the decaying matter and no mushrooms should grow on your garden or lawn.
Baking Soda
Using baking soda is a much more gentler way of getting rid of mushrooms from your garden and lawn. Baking soda isn’t a fungicide, it instead raises the pH level of the soil that the mushroom is using. Again this isn’t a permanent solution for your mushroom problem, but it is a very safe method to use which also happens to be safe as well.
There are two ways in which to apply baking soda to your soil. You can mix two tablespoons of baking soda per gallon of water that you are using. Stir this mixture together, until everything is well mixed and all the baking soda has dissolved. You then just have to spray this solution onto the mushrooms and the surrounding areas. The baking soda solution will reduce the amount of mushrooms that grow and over time it will kill any mushrooms that still try to grow on the treated areas.
The other way you can use baking soda to treat mushrooms is to sprinkle baking soda directly onto the mushrooms and soil. Then water the area with the baking soda applied. This process may have to be repeated multiple times before you see any real effect take place.
Baking soda is a very cheap method to use. It is safe to use around children and pets. However, a note of caution, you don’t want to change the pH level of your soil too much, otherwise this can affect the growth of other planets that are nearby.
Dish Soap
Just mix one or two tablespoons of any dish soap with three gallons of water. Using a screwdriver poke holes into the soil that surrounds the mushrooms. Next pour this soapy solution into the holes and over the mushrooms themselves. The whole helps the solution get down to the roots to properly stop the mushrooms from growing.
This method will need to be repeated several times a day for a week. However, you will see a fast reduction in mushrooms. When making your hole make sure they go down deep enough, as you want to disrupt where the mushroom lives down below to properly put a stop to them.
Water Control
Try not to overwater your lawn or garden. The best time to water your lawn is first thing in the morning, then the sun has plenty of time to dry off any extra moisture that isn’t soaked up or absorbed. Over watering your garden or lawn could then lead to dampness, which is something that mushrooms love and feed off.
Remove any branches or shrubs that you don’t need, which may cause unwanted shade in your garden. Otherwise these will be the areas that won’t fully dry out and will become the ideal place for any mushrooms to grow.
Are mushrooms found in your lawn or garden dangerous?
You do need to be careful when it comes to mushrooms, as there is a wide variety of them and not all of them are safe to touch. However, the mushrooms that you find in your garden aren’t actually dangerous to your garden or lawn. They actually help your lawn and garden as they break down organic matter, which your garden or lawn can then absorb really easily themself.
Mushrooms in your lawn or garden won’t carry any diseases that you need to worry about. Once you find the cause of the mushrooms, they normally disappear once all the organic matter has been broken down. This is because they then have nothing left to feed on, so they die.
Although, as mentioned above when handling mushrooms in your lawn or garden you must be careful. It is advised to wear protective clothing such as gloves and eye protection. However, even masks might be appropriate for some species of fungi. You don’t want to be inhaling any spores that they may release.
There are over a hundred different types of toxic mushrooms that can cause a wide range of different illnesses. From vomiting, to stomach pain, liver failure, kidney problems and diarrhoea. Some really toxic mushrooms can even cause death, so it is important to be careful when handling these fungi. The most dangerous mushroom is called the Death Cap. On appearance it looks very ordinary like a mushroom you could find at the grocery store, however this mushroom could be fatal.
Therefore, you should never eat any wild mushrooms, even the ones that grow in your garden. Wild mushrooms can be really difficult to identify and the risk of illness or death is very high. Hence you should always dispose of any mushrooms you remove from your lawn to garden and always wash any area that comes into contact with them.
You can get mushroom poisoning and this can appear after 20 minutes to 24 hours after eating a toxic mushroom. There are no real medications at the moment that can help treat this kind of poison. Therefore, it is important that if you find any mushrooms in your garden you teach your children to leave them alone, and you dispose of them immediately. Alongside this, mushrooms can also be extremely fatal to animals as well as humans, so you will want to keep an eye on your pets if they go too close to any wild mushrooms.
Mushrooms that you find growing in your garden or lawn must be treated with caution. Removing them as soon as possible is the best course of action for everyone’s safety.
Final Thoughts
Mushrooms can be a common sight in anyone’s lawn or garden. If you do come across any type of mushroom it is best to get rid of it as soon as possible. We have suggested many ways above on how to get right of mushrooms that you come across. Removing any mushrooms that you notice come up as soon as possible and by using a combination of these methods you will be able to prevent any mushrooms growing in your garden or on your lawn. For the safety of yourself, children and pets it’s best to remove them quickly but safely.