Mushrooms grow in flowerbeds when there’s too much moisture. Overwatering and decaying organic matter like wood chips help mushrooms thrive in flowerbeds.
You took a stroll in the garden. Is something odd in your flower beds? Do you see some outgrowths in the flower beds?
What are those? They look like mushrooms. What are they doing in your flower beds?
Why are Mushrooms growing in my Flowerbed?
Below are a few reasons why you might be seeing mushrooms in the flowerbeds.
- Wet weather often triggers their activity in the garden/lawns.
- Mushrooms thrive if wet, humid conditions last for a long time. The fungi gives out these fruiting bodies that then produe spores to further multiply.
- You create the habitat that’s suitable for them if you overwater your garden/lawn. Mushrooms proliferate in moist conditions.
- Decaying underground wood is a suitable substratum for the growth of mushrooms.
- Lawn thatch also helps mushrooms grow in lawns, which might in turn, spread into the flowerbed.
Tip: Mushroom growth is a sign of soggy soil/overwatering.
Are mushrooms bad for flower beds?
No! Mushrooms don’t harm your flower beds/flowering plants in any way. They are just fruiting bodies of harmless fungi.
Mushrooms grow on decomposing wood mulch, decomposing wood, and lawn thatch. Not all mushrooms are toadstool-shaped.
Some mushrooms are spherical, while some are umbrella-like, etc.
Whatever shape they come in, they don’t harm your flowering plants at all. They are just there to decompose the organic matter.
Are mushrooms good for my flower garden?
Yes, mushrooms are beneficial to your flower garden. Some mushrooms even get into a mutual relationship with certain plants.
But, how do they help your plants?
Mushrooms help break down the decaying organic matter beneath your flowering plants. They help decompose the wood mulch.
Mushrooms help decompose the wood pieces and produce nutrients that the plants can easily absorb. So, they are harmless to your plants.
They are also an indicator of the water your plants/flowerbed gets. Mushrooms grow in soils that are too moist for plants.
So, it is a sign to stop watering your plants for a while.
How to get rid of Mushrooms in Flowerbed?
As we discussed above mushrooms don’t hurt your plants in any way. If you still want to get rid of them, below are a few ways.
Dig it out!
It might sound weird, but digging the mushrooms out is one of the efficient ways to do this without harming your plants.
I’d dig out 12 to 18 inches of the affected soil and replace it with fresh soil. This way you can ensure that there are no fungal remnants left.
This is a natural way of doing things and if done right, you’ll not see mushrooms for a long time.
Killing Mushrooms with Baking Soda
Baking soda can be a very efficient fungicide. This method is non-toxic and doesn’t harm your flowering plants.
Mix 2 tablespoons of white vinegar in a gallon of water. Spray this solution directly on the mushrooms. Spraying this makes the soil alkaline, thus unsuitable for mushrooms.
You may want to use horticultural vinegar to make the process more effective. Horticulture vinegar is stronger than white vinegar.
This technique works, but it is good only for the short term. The mushrooms will grow again once the soil regains its acidity.
Killing Mushrooms with Bleach
Yes, one could get rid of mushrooms by spraying bleach solution on them. Let’s see the instructions to make the bleach solution.
One can get rid of mushrooms by spraying bleach on them.
But, in long term, bleach won’t be of much use as it can’t penetrate the pores of the main fungal body. Bleach has high surface tension.
Killing Mushrooms with Dish Soap
Yes, eliminating mushrooms with Dish soap is one of the most efficient ways. Let me show you how to make a solution out of dish soap.
Mix 2 tablespoons of dish soap in 2 gallons of water to make a solution. Apply as precisely on the mushrooms as possible.
Make holes around the fungal outgrowths/mushrooms using a screwdriver. Pour this solution over the mushrooms and into the holes.
You may want to scrub dish soap solution on the affected area to eliminate mushrooms.
You can also spray a borate-based fungicide on the mushrooms. By doing this you’ll ensure that the underlying fungal activity is controlled.
Will Mushrooms kill my flowers?
No, mushrooms won’t hurt your flowering plants in any way. People believe that mushrooms take away resources from the soil.
This is wrong. Mushrooms add nutrients to the soil by decomposing dead organic matter or decaying wood mulch.
They’ll enrich the soil in your flowerbeds. So, having mushrooms in flowerbeds is a good thing.
You can still get rid of them if you think they’re disturbing the ambiance of the garden. Follow natural ways to get rid of mushrooms.
How do you kill Mushrooms without killing plants?
You can dig mushrooms out. You may also want to use dish soap solution on mushrooms. You can also use a baking soda solution to get rid of them.
All the aforementioned methods work well to get rid of mushrooms without killing your flowering plants.
Whatever you do, don’t try to eliminate them by using chemical fungicides as they might harm your flowerbed.
You can always choose to let them live as I already told you, they’re not harmful to your garden at all. Live and let live.
Happy Gardening 🙂