I was going to search for an answer to this, but I can't find the search function anymore.

We are getting overwhelmed with dandelions this year. My sweet husband has been very patient in agreeing to organic only lawn care for the past 13 years, but for some reason we're inundated this year. He's even threatened chemicals he's so frustrated. What can we do? Is it too late for corn meal gluten and will it really do anything for us this season. We're in zone 5.

Thanks is advance for you help.

lpm

Adopt young children. :^O

The kids love them so much, especially the girls who live next door (mine are boys), that hardly a single dandelion is allowed to go to seed around here.

Of course, those that *do* make it to seed get a little dissemination assistance from little wish-makers. :O

I don't have any actually helpful advice for you. I love dandelions too and I leave 'em alone, even in my garden beds. They're good for the soil--bring up nutrients from deeper levels of soil, and accumulate them in their roots, which later decompose and add those nutrients into the growing layer of the soil.

But I understand having to meet the husband's desires as well--mine wants a nice mono-cultured lawn as well.

Good luck!

Its impossible to get rid of dandilions, not hard, just impossible. They are one of the truly hardy plants on Earth. They can grow in a field, lawn, flower pot or a crack in the sidewalk full of wind-blown grit. All it takes is one flower to produce well over 100 seeds that can drift for miles on the wind. If they land in good soil, they can grow roots that stretch down close to two feet. You can destroy the part above ground and the root will simply keep growing new leaves. I'm afraid that the only way your hubby will get rid of all those little yellow flowers is to go out there and pick each one. Course in less than a week, the yard will be full again.

And you can tell him to forget about chemicals. Dandilions can live through a drought perched in the gutter of a condemned building for months in the blazing hot sun and not die. A little RoundUp is only going to poison the groundwater, not kill the plant.

I have a herd of young children and am considering puting them all up for adoption after the morning we just had! Normally we rely on thier labor to take care of it, between the three of them and my little weed puller I can usually keep things fairly tame, but this year it's just crazy. I should also mention that we have almost a half acre of lawn. I'm working slowly to have less lawn and more garden beds, but it's a slow process (see above about little kids). We're not interested in having it look like a golf course, but more green, less yellow would be nice.

lpm

How 'bout some Dandelion Wine. I'm a believer!

http://www.texascooking.com/recipes/dandelionwine.htm

Unless every neighbor also keeps their lawn free, those things will get in there. This spring for our area has been unbelievable. Some of our neighbors lawns are practically solid yellow. On the other hand dandelions can be the most important plant in the yard. I have a picture of my son dirt covered from a ball game stopping in the yard to blow on a dandelion. I'd rather have that picture than a mono lawn.

The only way to keep dandelions under control is to mow the grass high, as high as your mower will allow but 3 to 4 inches is most bestest, grow the grass thick with proper feeding and waterng and mow frequently, never taking off more than 1/3 of the grass blade at any mowing.
This won't keep all dandelions out but will reduce the numbers enough so hand control is not a large task. In the meantime you may need to spot treat the buggers.

dandelions get no respect the entire plant has medicinal properties and is good for your liver and urinary tract especially. Maybe there is an herbalist in your are that would like to harvest the plants for you. Just a little defense of this greatly misunderstood plant.

I have been working on my front lawn now steady for two years this being the third. Concentrating on thicken the grass, picking those dandelion flowers before they go to seed, I always keep my grass as high as the mower will go, and cut as often as I can, so as to not cut more than a third of the grass blades, my front yard has NO dandelions, my back yard on the other hand is covered with them so now it is time to start with the back yard. Two miles from me is a field that is gorgeous with dandelions, they are pretty when the entire field is in bloom, I just wished they would stay there. It has been said thicken the lawn so that the seeds can not penetrate the grass to get to the soil. Remember the higher the grass blades the deeper the roots, as well as a well balanced chemical free lawn has no such need for the dandelion since it is designed to bring up the nutrients from deep down.

Mel

Learn to love them and learn that an imperfect lawn is not some sort of a failure. I love that someone said mono-lawn :^O !!! That is brilliant!!! Turf is not necessary, and it consumes more resources than our tired Earth can afford. GAS to power the mower and the weed-whacker - emissions belching into the atmosphere. CLEAN WATER that should be used for your vegetables, fruits, and trees. FERTILIZER (organic or not) that is produced, shipped, and wasted. CHEMICALS that too many people use even though they have children, pets, and ground water to consider - but usually they don't.

Please, don't resort to the chemicals. Have a dandelion pulling party with your neighbors. Pay a horde of kids to pull them up. What is the reward? Perfect turf. It is a status symbol that dates back to English gardens. The more turf one was able to maintain, the higher they were on the socio-economic ladder. Aren't we past that now?

Apparently not. Seems there is a caste system no matter where you live. Love, Jackie