Do mushrooms do lots of harm?

[Lavender2]

I agree with the others, they are usually a sign of healthy soil.
If you fear children or pets might get into them I would rake or bury them in compost or mulch. The source of the fungus may be well under the soil, and treatment may not be real effective. Did they go away last season? ... might be a wet Spring causing them? .. @frontiergirl53

 

[sea-kangaroo]

Yes! The two famously bad US ones are Death Caps and Destroying Angels, both white/light brown mushrooms in genus Amanita. They can kill or require an emergency liver/kidney transplant. Death Caps sadly look similar to a common edible mushroom from southeast Asia, so many of their victims are immigrants. I've seen warning signs in several languages at some of the parks near here.

That said--
-the majority of inedible mushrooms are just gross, too tough to chew, or lead to nothing more serious than some not-fun time in the bathroom
-there's a good number of edible mushrooms that are pretty easy to identify and hard to confuse with anything dangerous. I've eaten about 8 species from the wild myself, making sure to double-check with a couple of good mushroom books

Do the ones in your garden happen to be bright yellow? I had an amazing crop of those last year myself in a couple containers filled with Miracle Gro potting soil. If so those are these:
http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden...-pot-parasols-no-threat-to-plants-3187166.php
Some I left to do their thing, some I pulled up and composted. Neither way made any difference to the plants in those containers.

 

[frontiergirl53]

I agree with the others, they are usually a sign of healthy soil.
If you fear children or pets might get into them I would rake or bury them in compost or mulch. The source of the fungus may be well under the soil, and treatment may not be real effective. Did they go away last season? ... might be a wet Spring causing them? .. @frontiergirl53

Actually.... not a wet spring. Haven't had a drop of rain here since spring came. I think it's miracle grow soil. I babysit, so I am worried about the 2 yr old who dosent know any better, and I don't want my dog in there as well.

 

[frontiergirl53]

@sea-kangaroo oh man, I had some about 3 yrs ago in regular soil, I pulled them out and discarded them!