Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Remove mushrooms
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities

Most mushrooms are good for your lawn because they help break down dead material and get certain nutrients back into the soil. However, they don't always look good and can be a concern if you have pets or children. You can't kill mushrooms just by picking them. A mushroom is often a lot bigger underground, just like an iceberg. You have to take on the whole mushroom if you want to kill it. You can read how to do that in this article.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Remove mushrooms

1. Remove the mushrooms when you see the hats appear. If you leave them for too long, they will leave their spores, causing more mushrooms to grow. When you see mushrooms growing, just pull them out of the ground.
   • You can also try mowing or raking over the mushrooms, but they are more likely to spread their marks across your lawn.
2. Scarify your lawn to reduce shade and improve air circulation.
   • Go across the lawn with a rake.
   • Use a scarifier. You can rent such a device at some hardware stores and garden centers. After you have used the scarifier you will have to sweep up the waste with a regular rake.
   • If you have cool-season grass, scarify your lawn in late summer or early fall.
   • If you have warm season grass, scarify your lawn in late spring.
3. Provide enough air circulation by aerating your lawn. Poor air circulation will leave moisture in the soil, and mushrooms will grow quickly in damp places. Get a lawn aerator from a hardware store or garden center and treat your lawn with it. The aerator pulls pieces of soil from the lawn. This loosens the soil and improves air circulation.
   • Consider aerating the soil with an aerator to keep mushrooms from growing in a damp, muggy environment.
4. Find out where the witch circle is located. A witch circle is a circle of mushrooms that grows in the grass. Usually you can see a witch circle quite easily, but sometimes the caps of the mushrooms are not visible. In that case you can recognize the witch circle by a circle with dark green grass. In some cases it is a circle of dead grass.
5. Use a witch circle aerator if the mycelium is less than three inches thick. Start aerating at a distance of two feet from the outer edge of the circle and then work your way up to the center of the circle.
6. Dig out the witch circle if the mycelium is thicker than three inches. Grab a shovel and dig away the soil with the mushrooms. Dig to a distance of about 12 inches. When you have dug the mushrooms, make the circle you just dug another 12 to 18 inches wider on both sides. 60 centimeters is even better. Some experts recommend digging all the way to the center of the circle.
   • As you dig, try to find out what caused the witch circle. Look for rotting wood, construction waste, or anything that prevents the water from draining. Remove the material while digging.
7. Consider seeding the bare spots with fast-growing grass. The grass will cover the soil by itself, but that may take some time. If you want to quickly make your lawn look nice and green again, you can cover the bare spots with sod. You can also sow grass seed on the bare spots.

Tips

• Fungicides don't work very well to kill mushrooms because they don't target the part of the mushrooms that are underground. The mushrooms will keep coming back if you don't do anything about the areas that are underground.
• If a mushroom grows on a tree, it means that part of the tree is dead. In some cases it may be better to cut down the tree, especially if the fungus has penetrated deep into the tree. A deep fungal infection can weaken the trunk, causing the tree to topple. That can be dangerous.

Warnings

• The spores of mushrooms are blown by the wind to other places. Mushrooms will come back to you if your garden is damp, dark and has rotting material. Keep taking measures when the mushrooms are gone, unless you want them to come back.
• Because mushrooms feed on dead and rotting material, it is sometimes impossible to get rid of them completely without removing the infected areas (such as a tree branch or a wooden fence post).
• Some mushrooms are poisonous. Do not eat the mushrooms you find. In some cases, only experts are able to distinguish poisonous mushrooms from edible mushrooms. Watch out if your children or pets come near wild mushrooms.
• Always wash your hands after handling mushrooms.

Necessities

• Rake
• Lawn mower with a grass catcher
• Aerator
• Heel
• Fertilizer with nitrogen
• Fungicide