Mushroom-growing boom could cause biodiversity crisis, warn UK experts

RHS fears non-native fungi could alter microbiology of soil when grown in gardens or disposed of in compost heaps

A boom in the popularity of mushroom-growing at home could lead to a biodiversity disaster, UK garden experts have warned.

There has been a rise in the number of people growing mushrooms in their gardens, and this year, the RHS Chelsea flower show's plant of the year award included a mushroom - the tarragon oyster mushroom, thought to be found only in the British Isles - in its shortlist for the first time, despite it being a fungus, not a plant.