How do I eliminate Dandelion weeds from my lawn?

[mikey]

Short of harvesting them for wine, what are some good methods you've used for exterminating (eliminating) those peksy dandelion weeds?

thanks, mikey

[George Myers]

I've had real good results with Scots, weed&feed Bonus S. Put it down twice about 2 months apart and not a Dandelion left.

[zxcvbob]

I use a spray bottle and 2,4-d herbicide. Walk around the yard and squirt each thistle and dandelion in the spring (prefereably when they first come up) and that's usually good for the entire year.

Best regards, Bob

[William Morris]

Ditto. Conscientious care of your lawn - I personally follow the Scotts plan - will take care of the problem. The method of squirting each plant is great if you have only a few; if your lawn looks like our neighbor's lawn, nothing short of an atomic weapon will do it.

- Wm

[zxcvbob]

I prefer to spray each plant because it doesn't use nearly as many pounds of herbicide per acre as using "weed 'n' feed" granules or a hose-on sprayer. If my lawn was huge, or if it looked like your neighbor's lawn, I would use one of my pump-up sprayers instead of a squirt bottle.

-Bob

[Chuckles]

zxcvbob wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I agree that it is better to target the problem than to use indiscriminate scorched-earth techniques. My yard is not the smallest, but I use a squirt bottle rather than a pump sprayer because it prevents me from killing the grass by using too much. This is a good middle ground between those who won't use any synthetic chemicals ever, and those who advocate the same methods Saddam used against the Kurds.

[Doug Kanter]

While the weather's still cool, pick the leaves and make them about 20-50% of the total volume of a nice salad. They're slightly bitter in cool weather, and worse in hot weather. Try with a sweet dressing like raspberry vinaigrette, or one with balsamic vinegar in it.

If you have an ENORMOUS dandelion problem, this won't solve it unless you eat an ENORMOUS amount of salad. But, it feels like great revenge anyway. Of course, this assumes you haven't applied anything but fertilizer on your lawn in the past year or two.

If you have only a few dandelions, hand-weed them, being sure to get the long, carrot-shaped root. Loosen the soil and reseed.

[Doug Kanter]

He should be glad it's not bindweed. The chemical needed to eradicate a large crop of that plant basically puts your entire lawn out of commission for a season or two.

[Joseph Meehan]

I suggest a two part approach.

1. Get and keep the lawn healthy.
2. Kill off the remaining weeds.

This may sound like a good weed and feed product, but it is not.

The best time to apply fertilizer is never the same time as the best time to apply a weed control.

Getting and keeping a lawn healthy is not just fertilizing it. It means cutting it the correct height for the local conditions and weather. Most people cut the grass too short. This gives the advantage to the weeds.

Fertilizing should be based on the need which can be established by a soil test. The do all package of fertilizer that is sold by the chemical companies is designed to sell more product, not make your lawn the best.

Cut feed and water to benefit the long term health of the grass.

As for eliminating the remaining (or at least controlling the remaining) weeds, I suggest using a hand held spray and only hitting the weeds, not the whole lawn. I have seen some lawns that might need an over all approach once or twice, but after that it is easier, cheaper and more responsible to just treat the weeds.

Good Luck

[Childfree Scott]

I did mine by hand. Every day for a week, I picked all the ones that were blooming, plus any other I happenned to see while doing that or edging the lawn. I hardly ever see one in bloom anymore unless up pops up out of a clump of cloves (I'm working on the cloves now).

[mikey]

What is "2,4-d herbicide" ? Can you recomend a brand name?

I've thrown down one application of weed-n-feed. Am hesitant to do another since it has only been one week. I've been hand-weeding for a few days now. Seems like there are more weeds now than when I started.

I'd bet my lawn needs more health, perhaps a higher mower setting. And I think it needs more seeds. I have some bare spots from not watering enough last year.

thanks for the replies. mikey.

[Michael Daly]

2,4-d is one of the nastier herbicides. In fact I thought it had been banned.

Read some of the other posts. The best way to get rid of weeds is to get control of your lawn - get the weeds out by hand and keep them out with regular mowing and hand-weeding. I've had better results with this than with any chemicals.

Mike

[Bob]

I suggest to forget all the chemicals and Scots weed and feed stuff. Very poor method and generaly not good for the grass.

There is a tool available at most hardware stores, Home depot, walmart,etc that makes the job of removing weeds along with roots very easy - and this is the MOST effective way to control them.

The tool is called "Weed Popper" and is easy to use and does a good job. There is a similar tool called "Weed Hound" that I first bought and it didn't work at all and I took it back to Walmart.

Bob

[Max]

hear! hear!

I've actually had very good luck with the weed hound

I pulled about three or four bushels out of a friend's yard with one a few weeks ago, and have pretty much eliminated dandelions from my own, without fuss.

The one thing, though, is that the plunger tends to get stuck, so i just carry around a $3 rubber mallet to whack it -- much easier on the hands, and the difference between a good and painful experience.

ymmv.

.max

[Max]

...

forgot to mention -- the Hound is much much more sensitive to placement than the popper -- you need to be directly over the center of the dandelion for it to work.

.max

[William W. Plummer]

It was 2,4,5-T (aka "Agent Orange") that was banned. 2,4-D has not been shown to be dangerous. However, the solid form is inefficient because the weeds must aborb the herbicide through their leaves. So, you have to wet the lawn with a hose, apply the Weed-'n-Feed, and then hope it doesn't rain for a few days. I use the Bonide liquid mix in a garden pump sprayer. This allows targeted application of a liquid form minimizes amount used.

That being said, there are few things on this Earth as satifying as using the Weed Popper.

[mikey]

Are you speaking of this:

or this: If the second item, how much of my grass will it rip up around the weed site?

I've been using the first item with some success, but with as many weeds as I have it sure seems tedious!

thanks again, mikey.

[George Wenzel]

A better method is to apply the weed-n-feed first thing in the morning while there is dew on the grass (IIRC, most brands recommend this on the label). The dew wets the leaves of the weeds more thoroughly than watering, and maximizes the amount of herbicide that 'sticks' to the leaves.

Regards,

George Wenzel

[Jennifer]

There was actually an interesting article on this in the Washington Post yesterday.

Since you have to register, here are a few snippets :) A Course in Growing Lawns Organically at Gallaudet

By Adrian Higgins Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, May 6, 2004; Page H01

"I inherited more weeds than grass," he says standing in a sea of weeds on a grassy border at Gallaudet University in Northeast Washington....

In a radical departure from traditional lawn care, he is laying aside chemical fertilizers, potent weedkillers and toxic fungicides in favor of an organic approach he believes will be as effective in the long run but kinder to the environment, including the fertilizer-choked Chesapeake Bay.

...

He and his crews are finishing up a spring overseeding of the 43 acres of lawns, using 10,000 pounds of tall fescue, for the most part. The seeds were dusted with a powder that causes beneficial fungi to grow on grass roots. Called mycorhizae, the microbes are supposed to improve the ability of roots to absorb moisture and nutrients.

The grounds staff will seed again in late summer. In time, Weiser believes, the seeding combined with various treatments will produce a super grass that will simply bully out most of the weeds. Those that remain will be hand-picked or left alone.

...

This is changing, and homeowners who don't want to maintain their lawns themselves organically can find companies specializing in organic care. Even mainstream companies are offering organic alternatives.

...

Chemical fertilizers sterilize the soil with their salts, he said, while mycorhizae effectively increase a plant's root system by as much as sevenfold.

Other treatments at Gallaudet this year will include three applications of compost tea and four sprayings of biostimulants, including fish and seaweed extracts and humic acids -- a black liquid derived from a carbonaceous mineral.

These are low in nitrogen and other primary ingredients of fertilizers but promote a rich population of beneficial microbes in the soil, according to Otto and fellow practitioners. He said nitrogen fertilizer is a highly inefficient way to feed plants because "50 percent gasses off and 20 to 30 percent leaches out."

Nitrogen runoff from fertilizers used on farms and suburban lawns is a major cause of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay, and last year contributed to an alarming depletion of oxygen in a 100-mile stretch of water below the Bay Bridge that environmental scientists called a dead zone.

...

His crew follows other lawn care orthodoxy in mowing the grass high and with very sharp blades, practices that reduce stress and disease problems.

[Doug Kanter]

This is brilliant. And, it works.