How To Get Rid Of Mushrooms Growing In Mulch

We love our yards. The feeling of perfectly coiffed blades of grass under our palms and the smell of freshly laid mulch signify that spring has finally arrived. We revel in the satisfaction of lying back,  watching the birds land on our freshly made flower garden while the bees hover above our roses. Why shouldn’t we? We’ve worked hard for our happy ending. All good things must come to an end when we notice peaking up between our mulch beds is a dozen whitecap mushrooms!

Why are mushrooms growing in my mulch?

It’s easy to panic, we don’t want anything in our garden that we didn’t put there, and we want to know why mushrooms are growing in our mulch.

Experts would say mushrooms are there because you are doing everything right. Your garden is well taken care of and rich with organic matter. You don’t have to do anything leave the mushrooms alone! But should you?

Why get rid of mushrooms in your mulch?

Appearance

There are some definite reasons why you should get rid of mushrooms in your mulch. The first, of course, is the appearance. It may be true that mushrooms grow in healthy soil, but that doesn’t mean you want to look at fungus growing out of your flowers daily.

Health concerns

Seeing whitecap mushrooms grow out of your mulch is probably not a health concern, although some mushrooms and mushroom spores are dangerous. If allergic or poisonous mushrooms grow, you can be susceptible to lung and breathing issues and, at its worst  – death. While most adults know to stay clear of all wild mushrooms and are not likely to eat them, pets and children may not be so wise.

If your pet ingests mushrooms, symptoms of mushroom posing may not occur for up to six hours. If your pet shows any of these signs, take your pet to the emergency veterinarian immediately.

• anxiety
• seizures
• weakness
• lack of coordination

How can I prevent mushrooms in my mulch?

Take a few precautions to ensure mushrooms don’t grow in your mulch. The first rule of thumb is to start with a clean slate. While some experts say to place new mulch on top of old, in doing so, you will increase your chances of sprouting mushrooms. By removing the old, you will also be discarding rich organic matter from your beds. The decision is a mixed bag.

You also want to slope your beds so they will drain excess water. Remember, mushrooms are a fungus that grows in damp conditions. Therefore when building your bed, make sure that you have adequate drainage. Sun will also hinder their growth, so you may want to plant your flowers in a sunny or partially sunny location.

When placing your mulch, you don’t want to go more than 3 inches deep. Mulch holds in moisture, so too much mulch is the perfect breeding ground for mushrooms. Once you’ve placed your mulch, keep your beds clean of debris and weeds. Turning the mulch over with a rake will not only give your garden a lift and keep the mulch from fading, but it will help keep the mushrooms away.

Just like rotting out a tree stump, using compost rich in nitrogen will speed up the decomposition process and keep mushrooms out of your yard.

Prevent mushrooms:

• remove old mulch
• adequate drainage
• no more than 3 inches of mulch
• plant in the sun or partial sun
• clean beds of debris
• rake and turn over mulch
• use compost rich in nitrogen

How can I get rid of mushrooms?

If you start seeing mushrooms popping up in your mulch and you want them gone, you may want to step up your game. There are a few household products that most of us have lying around that will help. Dishwashing soap, vinegar, and bleach. With each of these, take special care in making sure you spray the mushrooms and not the surrounding plants.

• Dishwashing soap
• Vinegar
• Bleach
• Baking soda
• pull them out

Dishwashing soap

Using dishwashing soap is an easy and cheap way of removing mushrooms in your mulch. You need a gallon of water and 3 tablespoons of dish soap.

Vinegar

Vinegar may smell bad, but it does pack a punch when getting rid of mushrooms. Mix one gallon of vinegar with 1 oz of dish soap. Household vinegar will work as it has 4-6% acetic acid. To kill mushrooms effectively, you want to have around 5% acetic acid.

Bleach

Baking Soda

Pull them out

Mulch – what’s the point?

If mulch causes dangerous mushrooms to sprout, putting your kids and pets at risk, why place it in the first place?

Mulch does hold a purpose, and it’s not just visual – although a newly mulched flower bed does look fresh and smell like spring. As the mulch decomposes, it brings nutrition into our soil, giving plants needed nutrients to thrive. It also holds in water, keeping plants from drying out between watering and rain showers. Mulch protects our plants from cold temperatures, frost, and snow during winter months as well as the sun’s heat in the summer.

Placing a layer of mulch on a new or old bed helps reduce erosion by keeping the soil where it belongs. Without it, the soil will slowly erode during rain and even high winds.

Not only does mulch protect our plants, but it blocks sunlight weeds need to grow, cutting down on your work in the yard and replacing it with relaxation.

Conclusion

Mulch has many benefits to our gardens and flower beds – it prevents weeds, keeps moisture in, and keeps plants warm or cool. It also has the ability to grow unwanted mushrooms. While mushrooms are a sign of rich soil, they can be poisonous to both your pets and your children.

There are many ways you can prevent mushrooms from growing in your mulch. By keeping your beds clean and aerated, you will reduce the possibility. Unfortunately, sometimes they grow regardless. To remove them, you can use a variety of cheap and inexpensive solutions that are easy to mix and apply.

Once your yard is mushroom free, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy!