This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Is it worth removing dandelions from a lawn?
mameha
Posts: 40
Dandelions are growing like wildfire on my rear garden lawn.
Every day I go out and remove around 8 dandelions. I did the same thing last summer and it was hard work keeping up with it every day. I only pick the ones that are flowering and easy to see, otherwise it is like hunting for a needle in a haystack.
Is it worth the effort?
My theory is that if I keep on top of it I can limit their spread whereas if I ignore it they are going to prosper and eventually they will take over the lawn.
Luckily I don't have many other weeds and they are much less frequent/hassle.
0
Posts
I don't mind daisies in the lawn but dandy's are a no no!
Their tap root makes it hard to eradicate though.
Well, it depends on what sort of lawn you like. They are very pretty. They have no place in a bowling green type but in a more relaxed setting.... You could try one of those gel weed killers that you put on the leaves.
If I sent you a picture of my lawn right now you'd be out there with your butter knife hoking them out. It looks like I'm a commercial grower. I live in the sticks and the council only does it's hedges and ditches once a year and they do it AFTER the boogers have gone to seed. The yellow flowers are great and the birds, especially goldfinches , love them but the big flat leaves make an awful mess and the lawn will never look tended. (I'm not talking bowling green here!). Do a wee bit at a time or if you're ok with weedkiller do a broadleaved weed and feed type thing.
I remember a lady on GW many years ago who kept the daisies in her lawn because she was almost blind and it meant she could see where she'd mowed!
Every cloud eh?
Depends what you want from your garden. We keep them (extra bee fodder) but our garden is very relaxed and they don't cause a massive offense to the eyes.
We're I trying to keep a much nicer formal lawn than I'd try to remove them all BUT look at your neighbours houses; if they are full of dandelions you're going to have an awful battle because of course no matter how you keep your own garden if they're coming in from under the fence ...
I like dandelions
I don't like just grass, might as well have plastic grass
In the sticks near Peterborough
My goldfinches were at them a mile a minute this morning nut. They're light enough to sit on them (and my dandelions are like trees) and they rip out the yellow bits, chop em off and spit em out and then eat the seedy bit at the bottom. Very efficient. I couldn't do better wuth scissors!
I'm with you on this one Verd. I like my grass green and I have plenty of suitable plants for wildlife. There are miles and miles of hedgerows and verges round here where they can do what they want!
The man across the road leaves his tiny front garden to become a total mess. with them. It looks dreadful and makes the neighbourhood look scruffy. Everyone else keeps their gardens tidy. If you're in a residential area with gardens close to each other, I think you have a responsibilty to keep the place neat. I think nothing looks worse than a sea of dandelions seeding everywhere.
Perhaps we could start a revolution Verd.....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think all that too FG but unfortunately the dandelions don't care what I'm thinking. I go out and beat to a pulp with my trusty JD and the next day up they pop.
.......but only at the front. The fieldy bit at the back is free and clear. Probably too wet for them.
I like them and they are very important to bees, especially now as they are struggling due to neonics. They flower early when there aren't that many flowers for pollinating insects, especially bees. Keep them I say.
Only yesterday I watched a pair of Goldfinches on the dandylions; one was eating the seeds and the other had a bill full of the white dandylion fluff she was collecting for her nest building. What can be nicer than that?!