How to get rid of mushrooms

Removing Mushrooms

1. 
   "1Remove the mushrooms from the ground as soon as you see the caps appear. If you leave them for too long, they will release spores, which will lead to more mushrooms. When you see mushrooms appear, simply pull them out of the ground.
   • You can also try mowing or raking over the mushrooms, but this will heighten the chances of them spreading spores across your lawn.
2. Dispose of the mushrooms properly. Do not toss them into your compost pile. Instead, keep a plastic bag with you, and put them into the bag as soon as you pull them out of the ground. Once the bag is full, tie the bag up tightly, and toss it into a trashcan or incinerator. This will help prevent the mushrooms from spreading spores across your lawn.
3. 
   Eliminate decaying elements that enhance the growth of mushrooms. Remove decomposing wood chips and small branches, a favorite of many mushrooms."

 

Hi ES,
The problem is that Mushrooms spread by the spores so you've probably got spores among the wood chip.....so, yes, new mushrooms will appear.
I wouldn't bother picking them to get rid of them but I would use a rake to break the mushrooms up to stop them creating more spore...............getting rid of the Mushroom is a long term job and you'll have to keep revisiting the site to rake over any new Mushrooms before they also make spores. But, if you keep on raking the Mushrooms you will, eventually, be rid of them

 

You're right, ES, the dead parts of the mushroom will not cause more mushrooms, it's only the spores that cause reproduction, so you need to break the reproduction cycle of the mushroom by using the rake and breaking up the mushroom before it matures to the stage where it will start to produce spores...........it will take time but if you keep on top of them by continually raking that will stop the cycle of reproduction.

Hi Nigel, you're right, the mushrooms as they decay will provide some nutrients for other plants but (a) I reckon ES would settle for getting rid of the mushrooms for the price of adding a small amount of nutrients to the area. (b) With regard to other organisms living in/on the wood chip, the raking will also have a detrimental effect on them even before the Wood chip starts it's inevitable decaying and, anyway, some of those organisms are beneficial rather than harmful to the garden, plus given time after the raking will return which is natural.
I think what will return will be weeds, not because of the mushroom or woodchip decaying but because every day and every hour the winds/breezes bring soil dust and airborne seeds into our gardens which settles in the grass, bare soil, cracks in our patio and paths, but that is an ever present natural event. I often see gravel paths laid on driveways looking pristine after being laid and six months later are sprouting weeds whose seeds were not already there but were brought in by the winds along with the soil dust. I had my patio laid with block pavers in November/December last year and now weeds are sprouting between the individual pavers. Wood Chips will take a fairly long time to decay and, to be honest, I'm not a fan of them as they bring their own problems such as mushrooms and harbours for pest.....but other gardeners have different opinions.