How to Get Rid of Mushrooms in Your Yard Easily

If you notice wild mushrooms growing in your lawn or over the mulch in your garden, it may suffer from lawn diseases, not to mention the threat that some poisonous mushrooms can pose to your pets and loved ones. There are several ways to remove mushrooms from a yard, from digging them out of the ground to applying nitrogen-rich fertilizers. While mushrooms are not always bad, and some might enjoy their whimsical appearance, they can be an eyesore on your lawn.

So, what kills mushrooms on your lawn? What causes mushrooms to grow in your yard? Should I remove mushrooms from my lawn? Will mowing over mushrooms spread them? Do mushrooms in your yard need too much water? Do mushrooms mean bad soil?

Here is the complete breakdown of how to get rid of mushrooms in a yard.

Table of Contents

What Kills Mushrooms on Your Lawn?

Mushrooms love moisture. The most effective means of ridding mushrooms from your lawn involves first removing the mushrooms from your yard and maintaining the environment by aerating your lawn. Aeration allows oxygen into your soil, addressing the bacteria growing underneath, which results in more mushroom growth.

You can prevent fungal growth by implementing a lawn care routine that prevents too much water and moisture from settling into your soil. Also, consider dethatching your lawn, which is removing compressed dead grass from your lawn.

Nitrogen-rich fertilizers have also been known to help slow the growth of bacteria in the soil, eventually leading to more mushrooms.
Other methods involve concocting a solution of water and dish soap or baking soda and spraying the areas where the mushrooms are growing with a spray bottle filled with the solution. Finally, another method of removing mushrooms is digging them up. After you dig up the mushrooms, pour your solution into the holes where the mushrooms grew to stop future growth from happening there.

What Causes Mushrooms to Grow in Your Yard?

Mushrooms grow in areas with excessive moisture or humidity for an extended time. If you have a poor draining lawn or tend to overwater it, you might find mushrooms eventually coming up from the soil. Once the toadstools pop up, they release more mushroom spores that spread throughout the yard.

Ultimately, the moisture encourages the bacteria to grow underneath the surface until it eventually develops into fungi and sprouts into mushrooms. Moisture and other organic matter or material like animal waste can also help encourage mushroom growth.

Should I Remove Mushrooms from My Lawn?

Deciding to remove mushrooms from your lawn primarily depends on your landscaping goals; however, some can be a sign of lawn disease or a threat to children or pets that play on the lawn. Homeowners need to consider researching their situation to determine whether or not they should try to get rid of the mushrooms or if it would not harm anyone to let them be.

While mushrooms are evidence of growing bacteria under your soil which can also lead to lawn diseases, this does not necessarily mean your lawn is unhealthy. Some of these bacteria can be helpful for your property. However, excessive mushroom growth proves your yard is overwatered or not draining properly. At this point, you may consider a new lawn care routine.

Removing the mushrooms does not remove the bacteria growing underneath the soil, and some people may even enjoy the whimsical aesthetic of having mushrooms growing throughout their yards.

Will Mowing over Mushrooms Spread Them?

You may have considered simply mowing over the mushrooms with your lawn mower as a quick and easy way to get them out of your sight. While this might be a temporary fix for the eye sore, the spores and pieces of the mushrooms will ultimately spread over your lawn, where new mushrooms will grow. Simply removing the mushrooms does not address the bacteria under the soil responsible for these plants and is not a long-term solution to any mushroom problem.

Does Too Much Water Create Mushrooms in Your Lawn?

Fungi grow from tiny spores that require moisture to grow. If you are overwatering your lawn, expect mushrooms to pop out of the soil. That does not mean that where you overwater our lawn will always result in mushrooms, but constantly doing that in an area that does not receive enough sunlight can lead to a higher chance of getting them there.

After a rain storm or during a particularly humid season, you might find that your lawn, though well cared for, can start producing mushrooms. Different types of mushrooms require varying moisture levels to grow, depending on the environment and lawn care.

Do Mushrooms Mean Bad Soil?

While mushrooms often grow due to poor drainage and over-watering your lawn, this does not mean you do not have a healthy lawn or garden. Mushrooms are also evidence of your soil containing lots of organic matter and bacteria that are good for healthy soil. These whimsical little plants will grow around a rotting tree stump, for example, decomposing it into a healthy nutrient food source for other plants.

Mushrooms are also great for helping other plants by sharing their filaments, called hyphae, with the plant’s roots to help increase their ability to take up water, improve the plant’s drought resistance, and help the plant grow faster.

Overall, mushrooms can be an excellent friend to your lawn and garden ecosystem, depending on the type of mushroom. Remember that some mushrooms can be very poisonous, so before handling or consuming any mushrooms, research how to engage with these plants safely.

Conclusion: How to Get Rid of Mushrooms in Your Yard

When it comes to getting rid of mushrooms in your yard, the key is to reduce the moisture of your lawn by regulating how much you water your lawn and ensuring proper drainage. The spores that produce fungi love excessive moisture and need water to grow and reproduce.

While you may not appreciate the appearance of mushrooms speckled across your lawn, they can offer your soil healthy bacteria and work together with other plants to help them grow and survive. However, some mushrooms are poisonous and dangerous to young children and pets.

If you want to rid your lawn of mushrooms, you can try water, dish soap, or baking soda solutions to address the bacteria underneath the soil to keep mushrooms from growing back where you pick them. Remember that mowing the mushrooms will only help spread the spores around your lawn and grow back.