|
E-mail
to Emily
Composting Wildflowers and Weeds of the Week Articles Who's Who in
Gardening Quotes Emily (who we are)
|
emilycompost |
||
|
I'm not a Plant of the
Week
It's no shame to have mushrooms in the lawn. It just means that a lot of rotting and good composting is going on. Unfortunately, probably not where you want it to - in the front yard where this one was found. Perhaps mushroom beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Some questions from
Emily's mailbox:
A: Our Mushroom page is pretty good on this subject, but I realize it
says nothing except pick them out or live with them. I looked in the "Rodale's Landscape Problems Solver" - nothing. I looked in "Southern Living Garden Problems Solver" (who are not
opposed to spraying chemicals) and they say, "There is no chemical
control". In all areas of the yard they say to pick them out. In lawns
they say pick them out and then make sure the lawn is doing the best it
can with fertilizer, etc.
A: Mushrooms grow because of decaying organic matter. You can dig up
the general area and replace with other soil. You probably could spray
with a fungicide. It is however, the fruiting bodies of fungi. There are
about 3,000 different kinds of mushrooms in the USA. Picking them and destroying the entire mushroom will get the spores -
is one way to diminish the population. They grow because you have a very good condition for them, moisture and
organic material. Q: This sounds stupid I guess but my wife and
I just planted a beautiful perennial garden and we have mushrooms pooping
up all over. We put a couple of inches of cedar bark over this - what can
we do to get rid of these? A: The mushrooms you are experiencing are from very very fertile soil,
with a high content of organic matter. Not to fret just turn them in the
soil. It is all good for your plants. Also if you happened to use a mulch
of some sort this may have sprouted some fungus and that too can be turned
in. Q: I live in
upstate N.Y. and have a terrible invasion of mushrooms,
which appeared last fall. They are small round bubbles in big masses and
dark brown in color. Will they hurt anything? What is my best method for
getting rid of them? A: I grew up in upstate NY near the 1000 Islands. I miss the area very much. Mushrooms are a result of the decaying process. Most likely your mushrooms are harmless and will not hurt anything. You can pick them out or dig them out......I usually compost them. I would do this before they age and spread by spores...It generally means that area is very fertile and rich.....Not to worry. Good Luck |
|||
| ©2000 by Emily
Compost, all rights reserved. Emily's privacy policy |
|||
That's
right, it's a mushroom cap. Better known as a Green Gill Mushroom - we
think. This one grows in grassy, sunny areas.
Mushrooms
form an enormous group of organisms know as fungi. They have the ability
to make their own food. Please don't eat any mushrooms unless you are an
expert or have bought them from the store. We'd like to have you around
for a long time.
