Porcini mushrooms, chestnuts, chanterelles or meadow mushrooms are delicious and are collected diligently by many people in the forest and meadows. However, mushrooms that sprout from the flowerbed are by no means suitable for consumption - unless you consult a mushroom consultant first who will give the all-clear. In most cases, however, these fruiting bodies are at least inedible or even poisonous, which is why you should only dispose of them in the compost. But do mushrooms in flowerbeds actually have to be removed?
How to fight fungus in the flowerbed?
Mushrooms in flowerbeds often arise from bark mulch, tree debris or uneven ecological balance. You can remove the fruiting bodies, but the actual mushroom mycelium remains. Improve soil conditions, loosen the soil, or change pH to control fungal growth.
Why do mushrooms suddenly appear in the flower bed?
There are many reasons for the sudden, even massive, appearance of fungi in flowerbeds. Often the culprit is the spread of bark mulch, in which spores were hidden, which were then able to spread diligently when they came into contact with moist soil. But tree remains near the bed - for example from a tree that has been removed and whose roots and stump are still in the ground - can also have caused the fungal growth. These mushrooms help to eliminate tree debris in an ecological way and should therefore definitely remain in the bed. By the way, even if the tree stump is a few meters away, the fruiting bodies can still appear in the flowerbed. The actual fungus, the underground mycelium, can extend over many square meters and even square kilometers in some species. However, sometimes there is also an ecological imbalance behind the phenomenon, for example because the soil has become compacted, waterlogging has formed or the pH value has dropped.
Do the mushrooms damage the flowers?
In this case, you should definitely do something to prevent uncontrolled fungal growth, because the compacted, too wet or too acidic soil is not good for the flowers. For this reason, you are not primarily fighting the fungi, but rather improving the soil conditions. However, if the fungi have a cause such as the decomposition of a tree stump or bark mulch, they will certainly not harm your flowers. You can safely leave the fruiting bodies in the bed unless you feel disturbed by them.
Fighting uncontrolled fungal growth
As a first step, you can twist the fruiting bodies out of the ground or remove them with a shovel. Be sure to wear gloves when doing this, as the fruit bodies can be poisonous and can cause symptoms of poisoning if you are careless. However, be aware that you can only remove the above-ground growth and cannot remove the fungal mycelium growing underground - unless you carry out a generous soil replacement. However, you can make it as difficult as possible for the fungus, for example by using
- Raise the pH value of the soil with lime (€19.00 on Amazon) or stone powder
- Improve soil quality with sand and compost
- loosen and aerate the soil
- digging it up or scarifying it
- draining wet soil with drainage
Tip
You can safely dispose of young fruiting bodies in the compost, but older ones can no longer be disposed of. These can seed and thus contribute to further spread.
