Lets Talk dandelions . It is a battle you have to fight every year. But It does not have to be an all out war. Just a few small battles. The seeds carry in the wind and if not killed in the fall will come right back in the spring. I think for my next blog I will talk about how to make wine and salads with dandelions, Because the best way is to pick them by hand. Picking by hand is hard and may not be an option.
Enhance the health of your grass by leaving the clippings where they are after mowing the lawn instead of bagging them. Leaving the mulched clippings on the lawn smothers weeds and hinders the growth of new weeds. I put this first because I see a lot of people bag the yard. I understand but if you have a dandelion issue ditch the bag. The number one way to stop the issue before it is even an issue is have a thick lawn.
If you are going to dig! Dandelions will flower in the spring and again in the fall. The best time to attack them is right after they flower. Flowering and producing seeds takes a lot of energy, when they have finished blooming they are weakened by low food reserves in their taproots. This is the best time to physically remove by hand weeding or digging. When pulling or digging, make sure the soil is moist and remove as much of the taproot as possible. Weeding tools like the Weed Twister, Weed Hound or a large flat-head screwdriver are helpful. You might have to dig a dandelion several times before it quits re-sprouting. Keep digging the new plants as they return and before they have time to form another large taproot.
Chemical war on are yellow buddy. If you want to go organic then vinegar is going to be on the shopping list. I would add lemon juice to give your vinegar more of a punch. Adding dish soap will help the mixture stick to the leaves better, giving the vinegar and lemon juice more time to work against the weed. When using this recipe, opt for an all-natural, biodegradable dish soap. Mix 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1 quart of vinegar. Pour this into a spray bottle and spray enough to thoroughly coat all parts of the dandelion. If the dandelion hasn’t completely withered within three hours, spray the plant again. As a last resort if you need to use chemicals, I would tell you make sure you get a selective herbicide for dandelions. Simple answer is selective tells you it wont kill the grass.
Thank you all 6 of you who check this out. This is really hard for me because sitting in front of a computer is not my cup of tea. So a million times thank you!!!!!!
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