The lawn mushrooms are not any danger to your lawn grass. But for beauty and other reasons you might be wondering how to get rid of mushrooms in lawn, right?
Apart from a few types, some mushrooms are poisonous and they can be deadly for your pets and kids. Some even stink badly and they are called stinkhorns!
Everyone loves a well-manicured lawn and some mushrooms can be unsightly! So, in this guide, I will show you several methods on how to deal with it including killing mushrooms with baking soda!
How To Get Rid Of Mushrooms In Yard?
In a lush green lawn, mushrooms are nothing but a disturbing eyesore. And remember, they are the only reasons spores spread.
Also, removing them from above the surface of the lawn won’t solve the problem at all. Because there will still be underground fungus to deal with.
But don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to eliminate mushrooms from your lawn once and for all and you will learn how to prevent them from growing back. Here some most effective ways:
Killing Mushrooms With Vinegar
Does vinegar kill mushrooms?
Yes, and I will explain why using fungicides does not work for mushrooms on your lawn later. But you can create your own fungicides by mixing vinegar and water.
The active ingredient of vinegar is acetic acid and it works like a charm to kill garden mushrooms. So exactly how to get rid of mushrooms in the lawn with vinegar?
This is easy…Just follow these steps to do it with your kitchen vinegar (10% concentration):
- Wear your hand gloves.
- Mix 1 part of vinegar with 4 parts of water in a spray bottle (1:4 ratios of vinegar and water).
- Without spraying on the grass and plants, make sure to spray the solution directly on the mushrooms. Again, do not spray on the lawn grass!
Pretty soon, all the mushrooms will die!
You need highly concentrated vinegar to make this method work. Read the label of the vinegar to check the pH level. You need a higher pH level in your vinegar to kill the mushrooms.
Most household vinegar has a 5% concentration. But you need at least 10% concentrated vinegar to kill them effectively. So, I recommend industrial-grade vinegar to kill mushroom.
But keep in mind that, using too much higher concentration will kill your surrounding lawn grass too. So, make sure to mix enough water before you apply it to your lawn.
If you are too confused about the concentration level, you can simply use readymade weed killer with higher vinegar concentration like PF Harris or Green Gobbler Ultimate.
You can find them on the Amazon store or your local store. Both of them have a 30% concentration level of vinegar which has made it a great natural mushrooms killer.
Depending on the type of vinegar to kill mushrooms you use, you should expect results within 3 to 4 days. Sure, it may vary but that’s the standard turnaround time.
Just keep in mind that, higher concentrated vinegar may even kill mushrooms with hours! But less concentration will take more than 4 to 5 days to work.
Killing Mushrooms With Baking Soda
Before you share how to prevent them from growing back, let’s see how to kill them with a homemade solution of baking soda. Like the vinegar, it’ another natural fungus mushroom killer.
Homeowners have been using baking soda for so long to kill such mushrooms because of their non-toxic nature. It also makes the soil undesirable for the mushrooms to grow back to!
The baking soda increases the soil pH level and makes it alkaline. So, the growth of the mushrooms including the fungi is interrupted severely. But how do you achieve the result?
As you have already learned, plucking them off simply won’t work as they don’t die doing so. You must dig deep and deal with the spores.
Follow these steps to kill lawn mushrooms with baking soda:
- Get a bucket to prepare the solution. Take 1 gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Mix it in the bucket.
- Keep stirring until the baking soda completely dissolves in water.
- Once the solution is prepared, fill the spray bottle up with it. If you have a garden pump spray, use that to get a better result.
- Spray the solution directly on the mushrooms (stem + caps) and the surrounding soil.
- And you are done! You will see results within days.
Another way of using baking soda is to sprinkle it on the soil around the mushrooms and watering it to dissolve. Many home gardeners use baking soda as an effective fungicide.
As a full discloser, I need to tell you that there is no guarantee the mushrooms won’t grow back at all. The reason is pretty simple to understand if you recall how the baking soda works.
The baking soda will make the soil alkaline increasing the pH level. But over time, the soil quality will improve and lower the pH level. Once the underground fungi find the ideal soil condition, they may grow back!
Apart from the vinegar and baking soda, you can achieve the same result with dish soap and water mix as well.
Killing Mushrooms With Dish Soap
Yes, your dish soap sitting in the kitchen can take care of it. But I will use Dawn dish soap to deal with this.
It can kill them but won’t harm the grass of your lawn or yard. All you need is water to mix with the soap.
It’s a simple method. So, don’t worry. But you need to get the dish soap and water proportion right. So, pay attention and follow the exact steps mentioned below:
- Get a container or a garden sprayer. Now mix 2 tablespoons of the dish soap with 2 gallons of water in the sprayer or container.
- Poke holes into the soil around the mushrooms with anything (even a screwdriver will work).
- Now it’s time to spray the dish soap solution and you need to be careful here. Make sure the solution gets into the holes you made. To be extra careful, you can pour the soapy water directly into the holes. That way the solution won’t kill the surrounding grass.
- Repeat pouring the solution into the holes several times a day for a week.
The mushroom should start wilting within minutes. But with just one application of the soapy water won’t get the mycelium.
To disrupt the mycelium, you need to repeat the above mentioned steps several times for a week.
Reduce Decaying Organic Material
Well, such organic material is good for your grass but a redundant of them will encourage fungus to grow which will lead to the mushroom problem.
Regularly dethatch your lawn, remove old mulch, and rake your grass clippings to keep the decaying organic material at a minimum level.
You should apply any nitrogen-rich fertilizer to accelerate the decay process of organic matter such as leaves and rotting wood. For every 1,000 square feet of your yard or lawn, applying 5 pounds of ammonium sulfate will do the trick.
This will faster the decaying process and very soon the underground fungi will run out of food source. You should apply such fertilizer to shady areas or spots where it is always damp.
Less Water More Air
The shady spots of the yard require less water and you should not water that spots again unless it is fully dried up. You should water your lawn less frequently but deeply.
Never water your lawn at night because the Sun can’t absorb the excess water. So, it will make the damp problem worse where fungi will love to grow. Watering in the morning is only recommended.
Mushrooms infested lawn also means a damp lawn. So, the grasses of your lawn don’t require much watering to flourish.
If the mushroom problem is not so serious already, you can have your lawn aerated. This will help to improve the water penetration and airflow which will ultimately help the soil to quickly dry up.
You can simply rent such aeration equipment from your local rental center and get the job done. Also, you can pull up all the mushrooms first and then mow your lawn to prevent the moisture to accumulate.
Keep the grass in the dark and damp areas short so that the sunshine can reach the lawn soil easily.
Install a French Drain
If your lawn is having a severe problem of decaying organic matter (fallen leaves), you may need to install a French drain. It’s not possible to keep such decaying organic matter manually, but a French drain will take care of it for you.
Ensure Proper Sunlight
Never let your lawn get overshaded for a longer period. Cut down all the unnecessary bushes and tree branches. If you are wondering how do you kill mushrooms without killing grass, this is it!
Use Fungicides To Kill Lawn Mushrooms
Despite many claims from the manufacturers, fungicides don’t actually work when it comes to killing mushrooms. Yes, it can’t kill the underground fungi but the mushrooms above the surface.
The reason it does not work because such fungicides don’t penetrate the soil enough to reach the hyphae. So, it will kill the mushrooms above the surface but it will come back pretty soon.
It’s because lawn fungus is long-lasting and more prolific. Also, mushroom-killing fungicides are illegal to use in the garden so far I know.
Why There Are Lawn Mushrooms In Yard?
The mushroom in the garden indicates several problems. The most serious one is your garden or lawn is having a drainage problem. Then it also indicates nutrient deficiency and low pH level of the soil.
If your lawn or garden has a drainage problem, it will always be wet. And wet conditions will contribute to several lawn diseases. So, why there are mushrooms in the first place?
Well, mushrooms don’t grow out of anywhere. The main culprit of mushrooms on your lawn is the underground fungus. And such fungus grows underground due to the poor drainage of your lawn.
So, mushrooms are the reproductive version of the fungus. No underground fungus, no mushrooms. And there won’t be any underground fungus if there were a proper drainage system and ample sunlight.
Killing the mushrooms without killing the grass is half the job done only. The problem may reappear anytime. The best way to solve the problem is prevention. This is the only right course of action. And the easiest preventive measures are:
- Before you water your lawn, make sure it is completely dried out. Avoid overwatering too.
- Ensuring an adequate drainage system is a must; not just to solve the mushroom problems but to have a lush green lawn.
- Remove all the food sources of fungi like waste and organic debris.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
There are damp and shady areas on your lawn with plenty of decaying organic matters like leaves, old mulch or roots, stumps, etc.
No, if they don’t stink or make your lawn look horribly bad looking.
They are good for your lawn for so many reasons. The most important one is that it indicates your lawn soil is fertile and healthy!
Yes, if they stink and ruin the beauty of your lawn, but do so wearing your hand gloves. It’s a temporary fix. You must take preventive measures to kill the underground fungi to get rid of them permanently.
Vinegar & water mix or dish soap & water mix will kill the mushrooms quickly. But never ever spray such a solution on the lawn grass. Unless such mushrooms are unsightly or stink, you don’t have to worry about them. They don’t do any harm to your lawn grass.
Yes, but it’s not a surefire sigh. Mushroom can grow on the shady areas of your lawn whit plenty of decaying organic matters as well.
Yes, it will. Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 gallon of water. Then apply the solution directly to the mushrooms.
Make a solution of 1:4 solutions of vinegar and water and apply it directly to the mushrooms to kill them quickly.
Conclusion
I have shared every trick on how to get rid of mushrooms on lawn and prevent it from happening again in the future. Hopes that works for you!
But the best way to get rid of mushrooms in the yard without killing the grass is to prevent them from growing in the first place.
And the only preventive measures you can take are to fix the drainage problem and ensure proper sunlight.
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