Individual removal with gloved hands is really the only way to remove them without spreading the spores around. Gently pull them up out of the ground or wherever they're growing and put them in a plastic garbage bag for a trip to the county landfill.

We have to assume, however, that there are still thousands or even millions of spores just waiting to come up in a short amount of time, including the ones blown in from neighboring yards.

The best way to tune our yards to discourage mushroom growth is to rid our yard of what causes them to grow. That means eliminating excess water, increasing sunlight, reducing the abundance of decaying organic matter, and introducing competition from healthy growing grass.

Damp yards can be fixed in several ways: Trim or remove some of the tree and bush competition so more sunlight reaches the yard. The drier, brighter conditions will help keep mushrooms at bay. Pulling an aerator across your lawn once or twice a year will help stir up and dethatch the lawn litter. That'll help dry it out while letting water infiltrate more easily.

Also, try to limit lawn irrigation. If you do irrigate, do it in the morning before the sun rises to eliminate excess moisture. Last but not least is to follow a good lawn fertilization plan to have healthy growing grass. Mushrooms cannot thrive with this healthy competition.