Mushrooms are taking over my yard! How do I get rid of them?
Hello all! To make a long story short, it rained heavily last week and I noticed a few white mushrooms in my yard. I didn’t think anything of it, really. I picked them with a plastic bag, threw them out, and went to bed. I woke up the next day and there were like…hundreds of mushrooms. I’m not kidding. It was nuts. I don’t really have anything against the mushrooms per se, but I have dogs and I worry about them eating the mushrooms if they’re poisonous. That’s also why I’d really prefer not to use fungicide. Can anyone explain why I suddenly have hundreds of mushrooms in my yard? Is there any way to get rid of them naturally without pouring chemicals all over my lawn?
Yep, that sounds like lawn mushrooms alright. So, first of all, mushrooms normally only grow in soil that’s dense with rich nutrients, so they’re kind of a good sign—either you’re a phenomenal caretaker of the lawn, or you got very lucky. Second, mushrooms are kind of a good thing. They cycle nutrients, stabilize soil pH, and help organic matter in the soil decompose. So, if you can, just leave them be. If you do want to get rid of the mushrooms naturally, just wait them out. Keep your dogs away and wait for them to decay. If you do want to keep the lawn mushroom-free without chemicals, just pick them out as they pop up. They’re pretty easy to remove by hand.
I do want to touch on why they popped up so fast, though (mainly because it’s kind of cool). Mushrooms tend to multiply quickly after thunderstorms because the moisture spikes nitrogen levels in the soil. Also, the odds are high you’re just seeing a few mycelial networks—not hundreds of different mushrooms. It’s likely the mushrooms you see are all connected underground and that they’re part of the same organism. Neat, right?! That’s why picking individual mushrooms won’t get rid of them permanently—it’s sort of like just clipping the tip off a single blade of grass. The rest of the grass leaves are fine.
I do want to touch on why they popped up so fast, though (mainly because it’s kind of cool). Mushrooms tend to multiply quickly after thunderstorms because the moisture spikes nitrogen levels in the soil. Also, the odds are high you’re just seeing a few mycelial networks—not hundreds of different mushrooms. It’s likely the mushrooms you see are all connected underground and that they’re part of the same organism. Neat, right?! That’s why picking individual mushrooms won’t get rid of them permanently—it’s sort of like just clipping the tip off a single blade of grass. The rest of the grass leaves are fine.
You could go with a fungicide that will kill the mushrooms, but it could also be harmful to your dogs if they get into it. Vinegar and dish soap are natural alternatives you could try, but vinegar can also kill your grass (or any other plants in the area). First, pick the mushrooms out by hand. Then, pour mix 5 Tbsp of vinegar into 1 Gallon of water and pour the mixture into the soil where the mushrooms were. Or, add a few drops of dish soap to the soil. You'll want to keep your dogs away from the vinegar and the dish soap, too, though.
I'd recommend mowing over the mushrooms and then raking them out of your lawn if there are too many to pick out by hand
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