1. Control the mushroom growing conditions in your garden lawn

First, you need to confirm what it is that’s growing amongst the grass on your otherwise beautiful garden lawn. For example, are there mushrooms in your lawn, fungal diseases or other pests that are killing your grass and making it look unsightly?

Before taking any steps to control the mushrooms growing on your lawn, stop for a moment to determine what it is you’re dealing with. There’s no denying that mushrooms can be interesting to look at, intriguing, fascinating and even beautiful; however, some UK mushrooms are poisonous! So, look before you touch, and make sure you’re always wearing gloves when working near mushrooms in your garden. Keep a close eye on kids and pets until you have cleared the mushrooms and their remains away!

We have a guide that talks about some of the other unexpected arrivals that can cause your lawn to die in patches; this blog post, however, will focus on the mushrooms that are invading your garden!

Common growing conditions of garden mushrooms and how to fix them:

• Moist, damp or poorly drained soils are the perfect conditions for fungi to grow, so you need to aerate your lawn to improve drainage and ensure you don’t overwater it.
• Shaded areas of your garden are usually the dark, boggy corners where mushrooms love to grow. So cut back overhanging branches and looming hedgerows that block out sunlight and will also not shelter these areas from wind, which promotes better airflow for your lawn. If you have areas of your lawn constantly in the shade, then sowing shade-tolerant grass seed is the solution.
• Areas of your garden with layers of thatch, sections of heavy wear, piles of grass clippings, fallen leaves and rotten branches are a haven for mushrooms. Be sure to clear up these from your lawn as part of your regular gardening routine and rake up grass cuttings after every mow.
• Then remove any rotting wood, tree stumps and any other dead plants or fallen leaves. These are all ample food sources for mushrooms, and you should remove them as soon as possible.

2. Remove mushrooms as soon as they appear

The best way to control the growth of mushrooms in your lawn is to remove them as soon as they appear. Do this by digging them out of the soil, including the entire mushroom stem. This will eliminate the mushrooms before they have time to produce spores and develop more mushrooms, which helps stop them from returning and keeps potentially harmful garden plants from coming into contact with children or pets.

So, if you catch them quickly and watch for any stragglers that come along afterwards, you will decrease the likelihood of the mushrooms returning.

3. Ensure mushrooms are removed before mowing your lawn

As mentioned, removing mushrooms entirely from the soil is one of the best ways to eliminate them. You must do this before mowing your lawn! If you decide to mow without removing them beforehand, your mower will slice the mushrooms up and spread their spores across your garden. And this will increase the chances of many more mushrooms appearing in the weeks and months that follow!

4. Feed your grass with some quality lawn food

Applying a fungicide or nitrogen-rich fertiliser will help combat the environment in your garden that the mushrooms have grown to love! This will also feed your grass and pack it with nutrients to strengthen it to out-muscle weeds and other fungi. But be aware that it’s still possible the mushrooms will reappear if you have not first corrected your garden’s dampness and drainage problems.

Advice on how to get rid of mushrooms in lawn

Mushrooms growing in your garden can have their benefits, but they can often cause more harm than good, especially if you have kids and pets using your garden, and they can also make a pristine lawn look neglected. Removing them early and ensuring the entire mushroom is dug out of the ground significantly reduces their chances of returning.

We have a detailed guide on how to remove weeds from your lawn, which explains the best practices for eradicating weeds from your garden.

Or maybe you don’t mind having the mushrooms in your lawn and would like to let an area of your garden go wild, and we have a blog post for how to create a wildflower meadow in your garden.

If you have any questions about lawn care or would like to discuss challenges you are having with your own garden lawn, please get in touch; we will be happy to help!