Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
lemon_poppy_gw

Mushrooms

Lemon_Poppy
17 years ago

I'm full of questions about nasty things today!

Different flowerbed than the one from the post I made about the fugly fungusy stuff.

In this flowerbed I am seeing mushrooms pop up like crazy! In all the years we've had this particular flowerbed we've never had mushrooms in it.

Last year we widened the bed by about 4 feet, removed the few exsisting plants and added some new topsoil, compost and manure and then planted 50+ perennials. The area we are seeing the mushrooms the heaviest is the new area. (Though all of the above was tilled into the entire bed.

Other than dig them up when we see them is there anything we can or should be doing? Anyone know why we're getting the mushrooms?

Thanks!

Comments (5)

  • meldy_nva
    17 years ago

    The mushroom spores may have been in the new soil or mulch (unlikely to found in a properly made [hot] commercial compost); or the spores may simply have travelled via breeze and just happened to find the surface of the new bed to their liking. Pulling them up before they can send out more spores should help eliminate them.

    If you have small children or nibbling pets, it would be good for you to know just which varieties are popping up, but actively discourage both child or pet from doing a taste-test. Unless one is an expert, it's safest to consider only store-bought mushrooms as being safely edible.

    Here is a link that might be useful: mushrooms

  • Lemon_Poppy
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Taste test...ugh! They're so icky looking I can't imagine wanting to know what they taste like. Thankfully I have no outdoor pets and I keep pretty close tabs on my granddaughter when I have her outside with me.

    Thanks for the link, I'll read up on the mushrooms and I guess I'll just keep digging them up and tossing them into the garbage every time I see them pop up. We had rain last night and I noticed bunches of them out there waiting to be disposed of. Guess I better get to it. :(

  • morz8 - Washington Coast
    17 years ago

    Lemon poppy, they aren't hurting anything, and most likely the spores came in one of the amendments you added. I find them in my lawn after applying organic fertilizer followed by rain, in beds after mulching sometimes.

    If you find them an eyesore, remove them. If you are busy with other things, they'll go away on their own when the weather is more dry.

  • lindac
    17 years ago

    I wouldn't mess with them at all....not doing anything any harm. Mulch and compost often contains mushroom spoors. Wild mushrooms are everywhere, never yet heard of a dog or cat getting sick from eating a mushroom they found outside. That would be most unlikely.
    Just ignore them, they will go away when your mulch decomposes a bit....don't waste your energy digging them up as there are still more than enough spoors to grow new as long as conditions of temperature and moisture are right.
    And be aware that mushroom poisioning is quite infrequent, like only an average of less than 10 reported cases per year and pretty much all of them resulting from people who purposely picked and ate a wild mushroon.
    Ignore the mushrooms in your garden...it means you have a nice organic medium for plants to grow.
    And there are lots of plants in your garden that would be harmful if eaten. Foxglove and narcissus are examples, but there are more. If we worried about all things that might be potentially harmful, we would live in a plastic bubble. Teach your children not to put something strange in their mouth.....and not to talk to strangers!

    Linda C

    Here is a link that might be useful: Poisions in your garden

  • Lemon_Poppy
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thanks for all the input.

    Glad to hear that mushrooms in your flowerbeds isn't a bad thing. We have been having a tremendous amount of rain the last week or so, so I figure that is making conditions ripe for the mushrooms.

    Geesh...I have so much to learn about the good, the bad and the ugly in gardening. Thankfully I don't let it spoil all there is to enjoy about the beauty in gardening :)

    Have a nice day everyone!

Sponsored
Grow Landscapes
Average rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars8 Reviews
Planning Your Outdoor Space in Loundon County?