# Mushroom inavsion, how to remove?



## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Coming back after a three weeks stay abroad I noticed some sort of mushrooms are taking over a part of the garden. They like especially the creepers... I never had mushrooms in the garden of my previous home so this is very new to me. 

I Googled a bit and learned that mushrooms are actually harmless for the garden. But some can be poisonous and as I have a little toddler crawling in the garden I don't want to take a risk. 
Besides that, these are actually not the most beautiful mushrooms to see for a garden railway 

Anyone has experience in the best way to remove them (without damaging the creeper to much or the usage of chemicals)?
An article mentioned the usage of soap but will that not effect the other plants?


I don't trust that milk anymore either...


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)




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## Mike Flea (Apr 8, 2014)

Other than pulling them out by the roots, so as not to damage your surrounding ground cover, I don't know of any other way. Once you get them out, make sure you have adequate drainage. Mushrooms tend to grow where there is a lot of moisture and shade.


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## Homo Habilis (Jul 29, 2011)

A search for "remove mushrooms in garden" provides a number of suggestions. Perhaps one of these will address your problem.


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## Chris Scott (Jan 2, 2008)

A mushroom is a fungus. You need a common garden fungicide. 

Alternatively you could look at the economics of the situation and instead of spending for a fungicide you could harvest the mushrooms and make soup from them. Save money on the 
chemicals and groceries at the same time.


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## Pete Chimney (Jan 12, 2008)

NEVER EVER pick mushrooms unless you know EXACTLY what type you are picking. Some mushrooms are fatal if eaten and some can cause serious medical issues such as destroying the function of your liver.


It might be better to simply spray a fungicide or pick the mudrooms as soon as they are evident. Mushrooms are fungi and as such do not have actual roots and come out easily and quickly.


Once pulled bag up the mushrooms and place in the garbage.


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Sorry for my late reply and thank you for the answers and suggestions.

After some Google research these mushrooms turned out to be what is called an "aardappelbovist" over here. (Aardappel is the Dutch word for potato).
In English it is often referred to as "_common earthball" _or_"pigskin poison puffbal". _Or in latin:_ "Scleroderma aurantium"_
It is actually not a mushroom but indeed a fungus. It carry its spurs in the ball itself and they are spread when the ball cracks open. As long as the ball is not opened they can be removed by digging them out as soon as they are evident as Pete Chimney and Mike Flea advised already. In the early stage the ball is not cracked open. The spurs can cause irritation to the eyes and nose when the breath in but as long the balls are not cracked open it is safe. As you can see on the pictures in the first post some of them were cracked open already so I took some caution when removing them.
And unfortunately the suggestion of Chris Scott did not hold as these are not eatable... Would have loved to make some money out of it ;-)

They grow in shadow and sunny places in my garden but indeed the places where they grow are moisture as Mike Flea pointed out. So good drainage is indeed a prevention.
Compost or composting/rotten remains of plants or groundcovers turn out to be a source for food. The most balls were present at an area in the garden where the creeper Soleirolia soleirolii was once starved (after a very cold an snowy February) and than grow back over it own remains. These covered remains were good fuel for the fungus...


Hopefully they are now under control... just wait for the next summer to see.


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## Luci8478 (May 14, 2020)

As far as I know, this should be eliminated only with the help of special sprays


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## Loco Larry (Mar 29, 2021)

Paulus said:


> Coming back after a three weeks stay abroad I noticed some sort of mushrooms are taking over a part of the garden. They like especially the creepers... I never had mushrooms in the garden of my previous home so this is very new to me.
> 
> I Googled a bit and learned that mushrooms are actually harmless for the garden. But some can be poisonous and as I have a little toddler crawling in the garden I don't want to take a risk.
> Besides that, these are actually not the most beautiful mushrooms to see for a garden railway
> ...


I had a mushroom problem around my flower beds and in my garden RR 100' by 30'. Many yds of mulch. In the last two years I removed all the mulch and replaced it with ca. 20 ton of 3/4" stone. No more mushrooms as they have no host. I moved all this stone at the age of 70. First pic shows mulch before removal. The other to with various colored stone. Maybe not what you would want to do, but it works for me.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

When I have mushrooms in the garden, I just lop their heads off when they first appear and before the caps "open" to release spores. (I just kick them with my shoe, then I just leave them on the ground, they shrivel away quickly) This might not kill the underground network, but it at least keeps the potential new population down. 

Scot


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## Loco Larry (Mar 29, 2021)

After looking at your pics. The growth of your mushrooms is aided by the dense ground cover. This helps to keep the mulch/undergrowth damp/wet. Moisture, low light, and wood (dead roots & mulch) provides the best environment for mushroom growth. Not suggesting what you do, but only what is causing the issue. Maybe others have mentioned the same thing. Every garden rr is going to experience issues that one would not find on an inside layyout.


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