Lawn full of dandelions

Well, lots of wet beds next year, then.

Luckygirl perhaps you could buy a robot mower, they are getting cheaper…..or should I say less expensive!

I'd better buy some incontinence pants then, Billy Connolly style.

That was to MissAdventure...

henetha

My back garden 'lawn' has no grass, just dandelions and clover. I let it grow all summer for the bees etc. I might just leave it alone and let it help insects every summer.

That's what I do. Besides, the dandelions look absolutely stunning and the biodiversity is fascinating.

henetha

I'd better buy some incontinence pants then, Billy Connolly style.

The big yin!
I love Billy.

Me too. I loved the recent interview with him looking back over his life.

It is amazing, Flappergirl. So many other flowers appeared too, little blue ones, some orange coured dandelions, etc. It was quite lovely.

Coloured

Imagine trying to grow a dandelion from seed.

They are really intricate, and all the folklaw around them is great.
A flower that you can tell the time with by blowing on it.

My small front lawn had more dandelions than grass .
I started off doing an hour a day digging them up .
Then I tried using a thick pouring of washing up liquid
then a liberal application of table salt on them .
It seems to have killed them , but has left patches of brown grass .
This has greened up and the lawn looks better .
But I notice some other weeds popping up so when it's dry they are getting the same treatment .

Luckygirl3

I have taken the live and let live approach to the dandelions up till now, but the grass has more or less vanished now. I am not able to get anyone to mow regularly enough to curb their ardour so maybe I should continue to go with the flow.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

You can look forward to them depleting the soil of the nutrients they need and then disappearing. Well almost, I suppose a few will remain.
Of course it will be a few years before that happens.
It's a pity you cant find someone to help, as the clocks will only compound the issue.
A very expensive way of a sort of control would be a robot lawn mower.
Cutting them down regularly might weaken and stop the seeds from forming?

I wonder if JML make a device to help?
They seem to make one for everything else.

The lawnmaster robot mower has good reviews, and costs £399.
From b&q and amazon.

That was kind of you to look up the availability of a robot lawn mower MissAdventure (but not unusual😊).
The prices seem to have dropped quite a bit.

Thank you.
There are still some eyewateringly expensive ones, but the lawnmaster seems to score around the same as those in user reviews.
It might be worth considering, for people who struggle with grass cutting, anyway.

Gardening is blooming (see what I did there?) hard work.

My lawn has had dandelions appearing over the last couple of years, thanks to a neighbour who isn't really a gardener and lets them grow and flower wherever they want to. The seeds blow all over the place and it's near on impossible to prevent them seeding in my garden.

Having said that, I have a tortoise who loves them and spends many a happy hour chomping through them in the summer. That seems to keep them from flowering in my own garden. I also have clover in the lawn now, another favourite of hers! The bonus is that the clover stays green in the hot weather when the grass is brown and shrivelled.

I have just accepted that my lawn will never look like a perfect bowling green and have learnt to live with it. As long as it's green, that's fine with me...

Dandelions in the borders are another thing altogether - I attack them with a long-handled fork as soon as the little leaves show their faces so that they don't grown the long tap-weeds that are impossible to remove!

Having had quite an argument about it I’ve told my partner that I’m ok with him using Resolva on parts of the patio. It does seem to consist mainly of iron and it probably isn’t as toxic as the patio moss killer that I use in my crazy paving. I had to start using it after slipping quite badly on the path last winter: being surrounded by trees moss grows everywhere and it’s lethal.

I am not sure that a robot lawnmower would be able to cope with the incline in my garden. It's not very steep - I will look into it and see what I can find - thanks for the idea.

MayBee70

Having had quite an argument about it I’ve told my partner that I’m ok with him using Resolva on parts of the patio. It does seem to consist mainly of iron and it probably isn’t as toxic as the patio moss killer that I use in my crazy paving. I had to start using it after slipping quite badly on the path last winter: being surrounded by trees moss grows everywhere and it’s lethal.

I've tried salt and detergent, white vinegar etc, they come back as it doesn't kill the root.
DH used Resolva in the end.

I’ve been pouring any left over boiling water on the weeds, too, with little effect. Going to use the scarifier on my lawn next spring in the hope that I can clear out the weeds. At least I haven’t got Californian poppies everywhere. I made the mistake of scattering seeds everywhere one year because they grow nicely in the front garden but there isn’t a lawn there.

MayBee70

I’ve been pouring any left over boiling water on the weeds, too, with little effect. Going to use the scarifier on my lawn next spring in the hope that I can clear out the weeds. At least I haven’t got Californian poppies everywhere. I made the mistake of scattering seeds everywhere one year because they grow nicely in the front garden but there isn’t a lawn there.

I seem to have poppies which have crept from next door. They're very pretty but in the wrong place.

My next door neighbour started pulling up the Californian poppies growing in the gravel on my driveway. When Iasked him to stop doing it and said ‘ they’re poppies’ he said ‘they’re poppy weeds’. They didn’t seem to be spreading into his garden, though ( there’s a small fence dividing us). They did look very pretty imo!

Always pick the flowers to prevent any seeds spreading. Use a Daisy-Grubber and ease out the plant with as much of the root as you can. Check your lawn every few days and do this task. Slowly overtime most of dandelions will disappear. Because of wind blown seeds vigilence and persistence is the only answer.

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