Toadstool Wars

I'm sure you've seen a cute picture, perhaps in a child's story book, of a darling little fairy sitting on a stylized toadstool. But, just in case you don't know what I mean, here's a perfect example:

Very cute, but very wrong! I am currently fighting my own, private, toadstool war, and it's anything but cute. 

When we lived in Michigan, I was amazed at the variety of colorful mushrooms we found when we hiked in the woods. Those large, inedible fungi were eerily beautiful. Even the edible morels, considered to be a delightful delicacy among those who knew where to find them, were at least interesting to look at, as well as delicious. But, thankfully, the mushrooms in Michigan stayed out of my yard.

For the past couple of years, ever since we had to remove the huge hackberry tree that shaded our back yard, I've been fighting some prolific toadstool colonies that feed on the decaying, underground roots of that old tree. This spring has been wetter than usual, with rain several times a week once the snows finally ended in mid-April. The toadstools in my rock garden love this weather, and have been popping up all over the place. If I leave them alone for a few days, they shrivel up and stink, leaving a putrid, black mess where the toadstools once stood.

So, this spring, I've declared war on toadstools.


Victoria helped me last week when she dug up all the toadstools in the rock garden. It took her a couple of hours. Then, the next day, we spread black ground cloth over the half of the rock garden that didn't have many plants, and added a three inch layer of red cedar mulch over the whole area. I planted some new perennials and transplanted a few others that were encroaching on the sidewalk, then rearranged the rocks before calling it a day.

We didn't spread any ground cloth on the other half of the rock garden because it is covered with blooming, purple allium and iris that haven't yet bloomed. Those sneaky toadstools have been cropping up in that half of the garden, pushing through the mulch and wearing it like little caps on top of their annoying little heads. When I see them, I take my trowel and dig them out, then spray each spot with an organic anti-fungal spray that seems to be doing its job quite well. The offending toadstools have yet to sprout again in the places I've sprayed. 

But now, they are resorting to pushing up the pink patio pavers, adjacent to the rock garden. We know that the patio needs to be replaced, but until that time comes, I'm digging up every invasive toadstool and spraying fungicide on the patio cracks, too. Bill has suggested that an application of nitrogen might work better on a large scale; at least, that is one solution he found in his research, so that might be my next step.

If only these mushrooms were edible! Yet, I suppose they are fulfilling their purpose, hastening the decaying process of those old tree roots.

Have you ever noticed how God thought of everything our world needs--even mushrooms and toadstools that aid in keeping our world clean? In the whole scheme of things, excessive toadstools are a first-world problem of minuscule proportions. I guess I should stop complaining and thank him, once again, for giving me a beautiful place to live, with a sizable yard to work and play in. 

How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Psalm 10:24