Discussions

What are you doing to fight the Dandelion epidemic taking over the lawns, boulevards ??? How are you fighting the every proud standing glowing yellow friend that thinks we want to see their shining faces every summer??? . . .  
 
Does anyone eat the greens???  
 
I know I need to head out to the North quarter now, and start pulling - lol What do you do to conquer this battle???

free ranging wild flowers, what more could you ask for :p  
 
people spend so much time planting fancy weeds aka flowers and ignore the free and easy ones lol

take great pride in their lawns and hate that the city doesn't spray city properties. I can understand where they're coming from.

Yes, the little yellow flowers look very nice. Then they grow up and go to seed. The mature plants become unsightly and do nothing but ruin the look of even a poorly maintained lawn.  
 
This time of year I dig each and every plant by hand, and later on, if needed, I use chemical to control these unwanted (in my yard) plants.

you will have people complaining about the spraying, they will want buffer zones, not sprayed in city parks and so on. And mowing is just a loosing battle if only going to mow the dandelions. You can mow them one day, and not even a day later they are back. They will be cut when the grass is cut and likely on a once a week schedule. The grasscutters have large areas to maintain and cannot do the same spots daily.  
 
In a month or so, they would disappear themselves till next year.

I eat the tops of the flowers when they're fully ripe and yellow. They beat any store bought gum and have a subtle flavour to them. They're also great in tea, or for brewing tasty mead. The greens are also good in salads before they get to be too long, the roots can also be dried and used medicinally, or in consistent usage for maintained health.  
 
Just make sure the area your harvesting from hasn't been sprayed by those pesky neurotoxins!  
 
https://sunwarrior.com/healthhub/11-health-benefits-of-dandelion-leaves-and-dandelion-root

by eliminating dandelions, you removing a very important pollen source for honey bees.  
 
http://www.gooserockfarm.com/gpage1.html  
 
Dandelions are also very beneficial to many other insects and other garden wildlife.  
 
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2015/may/12/dandelions-pollinators-wildlife-garden

In areas where dandelions are not controlled they will eventually kill out the grass and take over, see it in pastures, so likely be the same in yards.

They are tough little critters for sure. How many years have we all been spraying for the darn things and seem to be getting further behind on them every year. I have a not so large yard and lots of time so can spend time digging them out. Also, don''t cut your grass to short. I cut mine about 2.5 to 3.5 inches. You need to mow more often if its a good growing season but gives the grass a chance to compete against the dandelions. A dry year like this, I will just trim it up to make it look tidy. Another thing I do is if I see the little yellow flowers I will go with a garbage bag and pick the flower and garbage it. If you mow it and it lays on the grass the beheaded flower will got to seed. Not sure how viable the seeds are but I get rid of the flower. As I said, I have the time to do this and not everyone has. Just don''t mow so short and give your grass a fighting chance.  
 
Edited by WestWind, 2016-05-22 07:37:29

hutchster said "free ranging wild flowers, what more could you ask for :p     people spend so much time planting fancy weeds aka flowers and ignore the free and easy ones lol "

thanks for that - you know how I try to fight the weeds -I got ALL mine plucked yesterday = a whole garbage can full . . . success!

fargobob said "Yes, the little yellow flowers look very nice. Then they grow up and go to seed. The mature plants become unsightly and do nothing but ruin the look of even a poorly maintained lawn.     This time of year I dig each and every plant by hand, and later on, if needed, I use chemical to control these unwanted (in my yard) plants. "

thats what I was doing yesterday - least I got them before they went into the Puff . . . will use chemicals the next go around . . . thanks for that

LoadedGun said "I eat the tops of the flowers when they're fully ripe and yellow. They beat any store bought gum and have a subtle flavour to them. They're also great in tea, or for brewing tasty mead. The greens are also good in salads before they get to be too long, the roots can also be dried and used medicinally, or in consistent usage for maintained health.     Just make sure the area your harvesting from hasn't been sprayed by those pesky neurotoxins!     https://sunwarrior.com/healthhub/11-health-benefits-of-dandelion-leaves-and-dandelion-root "

Very interesting info on this site - thank you for sharing - I was thinking of my middle son giving me a fresh bouquet of Dandelions whenever he could find them - now I can see why - thank you for this. JDW

Dandelions. ... my husband has been vigilant in picking them. Our front yard is yen times better than it normally is. Our backyard is horrible. Finally broke down and sprayed yesterday. Out garden has giant plants (years of neglect from previous owners).  
 
We use the Scott's ecosense too. It seems to work the best and is usally a good price too

work on dandelions spread in fall then again in spring after snow is gone before they start seeding themselves or small roots start sprouting works on my lawn wish the school yard beside my place would mow there lawn too.Its not yellow plants anymore they're white ready to blow seeds in wind

I leaved mine alone this year for the pollen for the bees I feel sorry for all animals including critters and bugs. I heard the bees are dying out so I let them have them but once they start seeding I will probably try and pull them I don't not like the seed one they are not pretty like the yellow ones which also my son picks for me every year I love it

Anyone wants to hand over said dandilions they pick that are pesticide free id be happy to take them off your hands lol my bunnies love them

daughter''s horses love dandelions, greens & flowers. this is also worth reading..http://www.naturalhealth365.com/benefits-of-dandelion-tea-cancer-cells-1344.html  
 
During the lab tests, researchers studied the effects of the dandelion tea formula on a number of commercially available leukemia cells. The team found that the dandelion tea caused cancer cells to destroy themselves, known as apoptosis.  
 
Edited by thirsty, 2016-05-22 13:32:15

I don't get what the big toodoo is over a simple dandelion. I am not going to obsess over a few yellow flowers. Even if my entire yard is yellow... don't care. Not going to add chemicals to my space and sure not going to dig out every plant. Bring on the bees !

first world problems

The bees have lots of other flowers and fruit trees to get their pollen from, i'd like to see less dandelions, they're very invasive and they'll take over your whole lawn.

Their field and yard is solid yellow and will blow over into our yard. The bees that are around here were in the flowering fruit trees and lilacs. Not one bee flying around the dandelions before we sprayed.  
 
We are ripping up and reseeding pastures and hay fields because the dandelions have taken over.  
 
Our cows will not eat dandelions.

bad weed. Speaking of fruit trees, i've never seen so many blossoms as this year.

thirsty said "daughter''s horses love dandelions, greens & flowers. this is also worth reading..http://www.naturalhealth365.com/benefits-of-dandelion-tea-cancer-cells-1344.html     During the lab tests, researchers studied the effects of the dandelion tea formula on a number of commercially available leukemia cells. The team found that the dandelion tea caused cancer cells to destroy themselves, known as apoptosis.     Edited by thirsty, 2016-05-22 13:32:15"

Very interesting, looking forward to see how that turns out.  
Made and tried dandelion tea not that long ago, not bad, tastes like coffee.

I bought a dandelion weed bar few years ago not sure if they can still be bought , easy to use cut grass then drag bar over the yard and it works good .

We just tried battered and fried (dip in egg, then flour/salt/pepper/seasoning salt - pan fry in a bit of oil) dandelion flowers last night and they were amazingly good. I wasn't sure what to expect and was surprised at the mild taste. Leave the stem on but don't batter and eat it: just use it to hold the dandelion while you bite the flower off.

My memory is saying that dandelions are great for flushing the winter hibernation bile from the liver and that is refreshing the body overall.  
 
I have a vicious circle where I do not have the energy to pick and process the dandelions to fix my liver to give me the energy to pick the dandelions that would fix my lack of energy,

I am using the Weeds be Gone. It works the same as what Adam posted earlier. I don''t know if it is much use though with City boulevards full of seed heads and my neighbors gone to seed. We are just going to have to live with them.  
 
Edited by Norah , 2016-05-23 10:22:12

DiD said "We just tried battered and fried (dip in egg, then flour/salt/pepper/seasoning salt - pan fry in a bit of oil) dandelion flowers last night and they were amazingly good. I wasn't sure what to expect and was surprised at the mild taste. Leave the stem on but don't batter and eat it: just use it to hold the dandelion while you bite the flower off. "

this sounds good - I remember now that my uncle used to make Dandelion Wine out of them . . . wonder how that works out?

whatthewhat said "What are you doing to fight the Dandelion epidemic taking over the lawns, boulevards ??? How are you fighting the every proud standing glowing yellow friend that thinks we want to see their shining faces every summer??? . . .     Does anyone eat the greens???     I know I need to head out to the North quarter now, and start pulling - lol What do you do to conquer this battle??? "

If most people would take care of the dandelions in their yards then they wouldn't spread all over the bloody play  
Cut my lawn before weekend and it's fine but the darn dandelions are a foot high. Ggrr