How To Reduce Lawn Moisture To Prevent Mushrooms From Taking Over
One of the most common reasons that mushrooms start popping up in your yard is excessive moisture. This can happen from overwatering, poor drainage, or from an expanding layer of thatch growing between your grass and soil. Thatch is made up of dead organic matter like roots and grass that mushrooms love to feed on. Moisture can speed up the process of decay for organic matter that is already present in your lawn, either on the surface or under layers of dirt.
If you have determined that your mushrooms are the result of excess moisture, there are some natural solutions that help remove mushrooms from your yard and prevent future growth. You can start by removing the mushrooms, but if you don't address the underlying issues, they will most likely come back. Once the mushrooms are removed, try dethatching your lawn to remove the mushroom's food source and aerate the soil, which leads to better drainage.
Improve airflow in the soil to prevent mushrooms
Airflow is key to improving moisture levels and drainage in your lawn, thus discouraging the growth of mushrooms. Combining dethatching and aeration practices can effectively improve the airflow in your soil. Thatch is the buildup of grass, stems, and roots on the surface of the soil, between the living blades of grass. Thatch can be healthy for your lawn, however, if it builds up more than a half inch, it could be preventing moisture and nutrients from reaching the roots of your plants and creating the ideal environment for mushrooms. You can use a dethatching rake to scrape off the excessive layer of thatch. Be sure to dethatch during your lawn's growing season, and not when it is dormant.
Once the topsoil is clear, you can improve soil drainage and airflow by aerating your lawn. You can easily aerate the lawn with a tool you already own, or you could rent an aerator for a faster (but more expensive) treatment. To aerate, you will remove small plugs of soil throughout the entire lawn when the soil is still moist. Once removed, you can leave them on the lawn, but you may want to pull a drag mat across the lawn to break them up. It is recommended to have 20 to 40 holes per square foot for proper aeration to be effective.