Often, gardeners and gardeners have a problem: mushrooms begin to grow on a recently planted expensive lawn. And most often they are grebes, which are difficult to remove even with the use of professional drugs. This article describes the main causes of the problem and presents the most effective methods of control.
The reasons for the appearance of mushrooms on the lawn
There can be many reasons why mushrooms can grow on a fresh lawn. It is important to determine them even before the use of any fungicidal agents, so as not to introduce harmful chemical composition into the soil in vain.
Did you know? A unique attraction of the national park in Ofenpass (Switzerland) is the mushroom mushroom, which has a total area of 40 hectares (800 × 500 m).
Among the most common reasons why mushrooms appear on the lawn, the following can be distinguished:
- Too cheap a lawn was purchased, made from low-quality mixtures of grass and flowers. Quite often, such a product contains mycelium, that is, an already prepared mycelium. In addition, experts note that most often the appearance of mushrooms occurs when buying a rolled lawn.
- Often a similar problem arises with frequent watering of the territory, which provokes stagnation of water in the upper layers of the soil and, as a result, the active development of spores, which leads to the growth of fungi. A similar situation can occur due to the constant ingestion of animal urine on the grass.
- Some experts do not recommend laying peat soil under the lawn, as in this case a lot of moisture appears under the lawn, which can also become an impetus for the development of mycelium.
- The simplest and most common cause of this problem is the immediate proximity of the site to the forest, or to various plants infected with mycelium (fruit trees, less often shrubs) that grow near a lawn within a radius of several meters. In this case, the disputes simply carries the wind across the entire territory nearby.
In the best case, champignon spores fall on the lawn, although this is extremely rare. Even in this case, they are categorically not recommended for food, because it is not known how the spores fell on the lawn. Leaving mushrooms in the discovered place for further growth as a decor should not be done either, especially if there are pets or small children at home (they can mistakenly eat a mushroom). All the more poisonous representatives of this kingdom must be disposed of at a rapid pace.
How to deal with mushrooms on the lawn
In any case, as soon as you see the mushrooms on your lawn, you immediately need to start a fight with them. The most common methods that allow you to get rid of them in a short time are described below. It is worth noting that using only one of these methods is often ineffective, - that is why it is necessary to perform a whole range of actions aimed at combating tenacious mycelium.
Unfavorable climate for mushrooms
One of the easiest ways to get rid of mushrooms is to create an unacceptable microclimate for them. To do this, you need to perform a number of actions to change your site.
Among them, the most important are the following:
- it is recommended to increase the coverage of the site (this can be done by transplanting to another place small shrubs or trees that obscure the lawn);
- do not allow animals to defecate on the lawn, as their excrement increases humidity and creates a favorable environment for the reproduction of bacteria;
- it is necessary to regularly clean leaves, as well as stumps from rotten trees and various organic debris, which is located on the site;
- watering the lawn is not worth it too often: this should be done only if necessary to prevent stagnation of water in the upper layers of the soil;
- as often as possible you need to mow the lawn in those places where the mycelium is located (all the mushrooms found in this case must be burned to prevent the spread of spores in the area in the future).
Aeration and scarification
Quite often, procedures such as aeration and scarification are used to eliminate mycelium from the site. Their essence is to remove the upper layers of the soil, as well as to pierce it for better absorption of water and nutrients. Due to this, the outflow of water from the soil surface is optimized. Sometimes gardeners simply carry out loosening the soil with a standard rake - this is also a fairly effective way to improve soil quality.
The first aeration procedure must be carried out in April, after which its regularity is reduced to every second lawn mowing. As for scarification, it is carried out only twice a year: in April and in September. For this purpose, you can use not only a rake or other improvised devices, but also special aerators.
They can be of two types:
- Electric - have sharp blades, with the help of which small incisions are made in the root system of plants. Thanks to this, the grass grows more densely and evenly. The predominant number of models have a power of 1200 watts. At the same time, the average price of such a device starts at $ 80. A good producer is Sadko.
- Petrol - are distinguished by greater noise, while having almost the same technical features. The only thing that can be noted is the great power and autonomy of gasoline appliances, although when using them for domestic purposes, a special difference is not noticeable. Among the best companies are Bosch and Husqvarna. At the same time, the price of such aerators is kept at $ 450.
With their use, aeration and scarification procedures will take only a few minutes, because the speed of work and the coverage of the area will significantly increase. In this case, the blades can not be immersed in the soil more than 10 cm, so as not to severely injure the root system of plants. Otherwise, the lawn may begin to dry out.
Liming and sanding
These procedures are also quite popular in the fight against mycelium that has appeared on the lawn. In the case of liming, the soil is enriched with limestone, which primarily helps to significantly reduce acidity. This is an unfavorable factor for the further development of mushrooms on the site: in such conditions, they quickly die. The only inconvenience is that such a procedure can only be carried out at the end of autumn.
If mushrooms were found on the lawn in early summer, waiting is simply impractical. In this case, the sanding procedure is more suitable. To do this, it is necessary to spread a thin layer of sand about 2-3 mm thick on the surface of the earth (it can be mixed with lime in equal proportions). This will become a kind of drainage for plants, which also will not allow moisture to stay in the upper layers of the soil for a long time.
Important! If you stop watering the area where the mushrooms were found, the mycelium will not develop rapidly, and new specimens will not appear for a long time.
Manual collection
Experts also say that you can try to pick mushrooms manually. This procedure takes a lot of time and effort, but is quite effective. If carried out regularly, the number of mushrooms on the site will significantly decrease, so that the risk of spore spreading on the lawn is minimized. In this case, it is advisable to remove the mushrooms, cutting them directly under the base.
Popular methods of destruction
There are many folk methods that are effective in combating mycelium on the lawn. One of the most effective methods is called the use of antiseptic agents. They help to get rid of mushrooms, but only if a large number of treatments are carried out.
To prepare a spray agent for the site, it is necessary to combine 40 g of copper sulfate in a concentration of 0.2%, as well as 200 g of iron sulfate and 100 ml of dishwashing detergent. The resulting concentrate should be dissolved in 10 liters of water, and then pour the infected area with it, using a watering can.
It is necessary to carry out such a procedure every week until the mushrooms are completely removed.
There are also more neglected cases when certain sections of the lawn are already much darkened and become completely dry. This means that vegetation is completely absent on them. People call this problem “witch’s circles”.
In this case, it is optimal to remove the topsoil up to 15 cm, then pick up new soil, fertilize it, treat it with fungicides and only then plant a new lawn, making sure that the mycelium is gone. After the described actions, it is necessary to carry out very careful lawn care to prevent the mycelium from returning to its previous habitat.
Did you know? At the end of the last century, the largest porcini mushroom in the history of documented observations was found in Wisconsin (USA). Its weight was more than 140 kg, and its diameter was 2 m.
The use of fungicides and fertilizers
It is optimal to clean the lawn of fungi with fungicides that contain nitrogen. This helps to drastically reduce the number of mushrooms, as well as delay their development and growth. It is worth paying attention that it is necessary to spray not individual, most affected areas, but whole mushroom colonies. There are also drugs in tablets and capsules that are laid directly deep into the earth, in the center of the mycelium.
One of the potent fungicidal drugs is Agat-25K, which helps protect the lawn from the development of parasitic fungi, as well as enhance the uniformity of growth of the grassy layer. The active substance of this tool is inactivated bacteria.
The fungicide is sold in small bottles with a volume of 10 g. At one time, you need to use one scoop of the drug (provided in the kit), which is diluted in 3 liters of water. After this, the plants are abundantly sprayed. Up to 4 such treatments are performed with an interval of 20 days between each of them.
No less effective is Bordeaux fluid. This is a classic fungicide, which is made on the basis of copper. It is not only suitable for the treatment of mycelium, but also copes well with other lesions and diseases of plants, for example, powdery mildew or black spots on the surface of shrubs and flowers. Use Bordeaux liquid is necessary only in those proportions that are prescribed in the instructions for the tool.
The drug is used as a spray, which abundantly cut the legs of mushrooms. Experts are of the opinion that spraying should be done once a month until the complete destruction of the mycelium. The frequency of treatments can be increased by 2–4 times with heavy rains. The effectiveness of this tool in the fight against mycelium is 85%.
Quite popular on the market is a drug called Chistotsvet. Its advantage is that it is sold in a diluted form, so you can use the product immediately after unpacking. The active ingredient of this fungicide is copper octanoate in combination with a number of fatty acids.
Also important is the fact that the concentration level of the chemical, although it affects the fungi, protects the rest of the lawn from chemical burns. You should not use this tool in rainy weather, because it takes about 48 hours to absorb the drug. It is necessary to make up to 5 treatments with a break of 4 weeks between each of them.
Important! Often, the use of systemic fungicides harms not only fungi, but also all plant crops that are within the radius of the substance. At the same time, considerable damage is done to the soil, which significantly reduces the yield.
If you follow all the above methods, you can quickly get rid of such a problem as mushrooms on the lawn. The main thing is not to run the site in the future, maintaining the desired level of moisture on it. It is also important for a summer resident to timely bring in useful substances and conduct aeration of the territory.
