# Best way to get rid of dandelions from the yard



## Outbacker

I have about 100 dandelions in the front yard  , and I recall last year going out and picking the weeds out of the grass, leaving holes where ever they were, and most of the time the root broke and so I knew it was coming back someday. What is everyones recommendation for getting rid of them. Is there a particular spray that will kill the weed and not the grass?
Thanks.


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## Square Eye

Round-up in a cup. Brush it on if you don't want to kill the grass around it. Wear rubber or latex gloves! A spray bottle would be good if you're not too concerned with the grass around them. Try to get the Round-up on before it flowers. You will kill it before it seeds.


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## PaPaDan

Scotts Weed and Feed will kill out the broad leaf weeds and help your grass grow thicker and stronger.


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## CraigFL

I agree with Weed & Feed-- kills the broadleaf weeds and feeds the grass. Roundup is good, but you spend much more time just to be sure it doesn't get on anything else-- it will kill everything green if it hits the leaves.


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## broke

Weed & Feed -- is this environmentally and children/pet safe?  Aren't those products poison?


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## hvachawk

if you read the back of the bag it will tell you how long it takes for this to be safe . i have dogs and i keep them off it for 1 week . if it does not rain 4 days after i put it down i water it for about 3 days before i let the dogs on it .

i also use weed b gone that you put in a spray can that goes on your hose .this is for when i do not want to feed the lawn but kill the weeds.
i have had a weed free lawn for 10 yrs   and my neighbor hate me because they have nice yellow flowers in there lawn.


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## woodworkingmenace

Get some bottles...

Pick them rascals....

Sell them at Krogers for 2 bucks a bottle....

Put about 8 dandelions in each bottle....

I'm SERIOUS!!  THEY ACTUALLY SELL THOSE THINGS!!! 

ROTFLOL!!!


Jesse


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## Daryl in Nanoose

I use WEED OUT or KILEX, depends which one the store has at treatment time. I have hundreds of those beautiful yellow flowers that seed on both sides of me (thanks nabours) and it works great and for the rest of the time I use scotts WEED and Feed. I only get the odd one now in the lawn but when I bought this house there were hundreds of them.


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## Gardner

Daryl in Nanoose said:


> I use WEED OUT or KILEX, depends which one the store has at treatment time. I have hundreds of those beautiful yellow flowers that seed on both sides of me (thanks nabours) and it works great and for the rest of the time I use scotts WEED and Feed. I only get the odd one now in the lawn but when I bought this house there were hundreds of them.


The trouble with Weed-N-Feed or any similar weed killer/fertilizer combination is that very little of the weed killer gets to the dandelion tap root to completely kill the plant.  If you have flowers and ornamental trees in you yard, they will get a high dose of the Weed-N-Feed, and suffer as a result.  Also children and pets will be exposed to a lawn spread over by chemicals.
Spot spraying with any non-selective herbicide like Roundup will not only kill the dandelion, but the grass as well, leaving you with dead spots all over your lawn.
Spot spraying with a weed killer designated for lawn use like Weed-B-Gon kills the top foliage, but the tap root usually survives, with a new healthy dandelion back in a few weeks.
So the solution I have found that works is a two step process which involves using both hands for a one-two punch.
In your right hand hold a "weed digger" (that fork shaped hand tool) to lift the dandelion plant and about 1/2 inch of the top of the tap root out of the ground.  
In your left hand hold a plastic sprayer filled with Weed-B-Gon.  Spray a little (less than a teaspoon) into that small hole that you just lifted the dandelion plant out of.  All the weed killer is directed right at the tap root to kill it.
Yes, you'll also have to later go around and pick up the pulled dandelions, but the effect on your lawn will be immediate, before those yellow flowers have turned into the seed machines that will spread throughout your lawn.  
An added benefit is that you've used a minimum amount of chemicals on the lawn.


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## harriet

wow i've never thought of doing it that way!  a sort of 'kill the beast from within' approach. i'll try it and let you know how it goes. lets just hope i don't kill all the grass again this time!


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## CanYouFixItMom?

Thanks for the idea, Gardner. makes so much sense, I'm sure we're all wondering why we didn't try it in the first place....lol. I have a toddler that loves to be outside, but has been stuck in for a whole week because of Weed and Feed, then Weed B Gone attempts making the yard unsafe. Dandelions looked sad for a day or two, now they are laughing at me....and growing happily. Will try your idea!


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## DaveyDIY

I use the Scott's program - especially in the front yard
I pull dandelions & use weed killer
Between the 2 my front yard is almost dandelion free
Each year I get a few that try to grow
I spot them & pull

This year I will be starting on the back yard since the construction is done & hopefully will not be driving my truck out back

One of the best things is feeding your lwan so that it thickens & prevents seeds from growing

But as long as you hav eeven a little bit of dirt & have any wind, then you will get new seed blown in


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## asbestos

don't bother with half measures


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## Raminator

Gardner said:


> The trouble with Weed-N-Feed or any similar weed killer/fertilizer combination is that very little of the weed killer gets to the dandelion tap root to completely kill the plant.  If you have flowers and ornamental trees in you yard, they will get a high dose of the Weed-N-Feed, and suffer as a result.  Also children and pets will be exposed to a lawn spread over by chemicals.
> Spot spraying with any non-selective herbicide like Roundup will not only kill the dandelion, but the grass as well, leaving you with dead spots all over your lawn.
> Spot spraying with a weed killer designated for lawn use like Weed-B-Gon kills the top foliage, but the tap root usually survives, with a new healthy dandelion back in a few weeks.
> So the solution I have found that works is a two step process which involves using both hands for a one-two punch.
> In your right hand hold a "weed digger" (that fork shaped hand tool) to lift the dandelion plant and about 1/2 inch of the top of the tap root out of the ground.
> In your left hand hold a plastic sprayer filled with Weed-B-Gon.  Spray a little (less than a teaspoon) into that small hole that you just lifted the dandelion plant out of.  All the weed killer is directed right at the tap root to kill it.
> Yes, you'll also have to later go around and pick up the pulled dandelions, but the effect on your lawn will be immediate, before those yellow flowers have turned into the seed machines that will spread throughout your lawn.
> An added benefit is that you've used a minimum amount of chemicals on the lawn.



Would you recommend this 1-2 knockout with roundup?  I just bought two gallons of the stuff at my Home Depot.  Stuff kills EVERYTHING!


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## kok328

Sounds like an opportunity to have a nice salad and make some dandelion wine.


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## Someonewhoknows

Dandelions are a deep rooted perennial, as are most perennials.  You can spray herbicide on them any time you like and it will kill the plant ABOVE GROUND.  But it will not kill the root and the weed will re-grow.  The only way to kill dandelions and other perennial weeds is to spray them in the fall.  During the fall perennials are making food and moving it to their roots to store for the upcoming winter when they cannot make food.   If you spray them in the fall, they will move the herbicide into their root as well and it will kill the weed AND its ROOT.  2-4-D is the best herbicide to use and you should spray it in mid September through late October.  You can use a high rate of 2-4-D as it will not hurt your grass.  You need to do this EVERY year as there will be dandelion SEEDS that the spray will not kill that will germinate next spring and start new weeds.   Spray on a sunny day when the lawn is dry.  Contact herbicides need dry foliage.  If you go to a lawn and garden store you will not find a product called 2-4-D.  You need to read the label for the ACTIVE INGREDIANTS.  Farmers, which I am, know it as 2-4-D.  Stores that sell to homeowners sell products named various names, including WEED-BE-GONE and other NAMES.   Most lawn care companies do not spray the right chemical, or more often do not spray it at the right time.  Insist that they spray after mid September and before the last of October and only on a sunny day and after the grass has dried out from the dew or a previous night rainfall.  Depending on when you receive your first HARD FREEZE, the October date can move later; even into the last of November.  But if you want to be sure the mid September to last of October dates will be your best bet.  Just make sure its a sunny day and your grass is dry to the touch before it is sprayed.


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## BridgeMan

Get a goat.  They love dandelions, and won't kill the grass like sheep will.


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## spenser

I work for Kroger. We are the largest floral in the country. We do not buy or sell people dandelions.


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## oldognewtrick

spenser said:


> I work for Kroger. We are the largest floral in the country. We do not buy or sell people dandelions.



Spenser, if you would like to let me know and I can hook you up...:

Seriously,  to House Repoair Talk!


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## mudmixer

Pick them and make wine out of them.

Your neighbors will supply you with a constant crop of fresh dandelion seeds during the year since that is how they actually spread.

Dick


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## bud16415

http://www.weedkillercane.com/

http://lawn-gardening-tools.com/Item/dandelion-removal-tool


Or check out garage sales.

http://articles.philly.com/2009-11-20/news/24988192_1_garden-tools-hoes-single-edge-razor-blades

I have one that looks just like a cane with 4 nails coming out of the bottom and a trigger. I have never found them again but you stick it in the ground give it a twist and the root comes out and point it at a bucket and pull the trigger and a spring shoots it in the bucket and its ready to go again. Amazing invention and for whatever reason never caught on. The closest I have seen is this.
http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/4389


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## bud16415

sorry double post


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## greenlady0

To add to the previous comment about pulling and applying weed b gone to any remaining root. Take along a bag of top soil fill hole on top up to ground level, sprinkle grass seed and more topsoil. To finish water lightly or wait for rain. The grass will fill in nice and lush and won't let weeds get a chance to fill in the empty space again...at least not easily.


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## 06Honda

Ideal time of year is the fall as its leaves take in what is put on it to store in its roots for the winter. Weed killer applied at this time will kill both the plant and root.


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## rockhound

Get a pair of long, 12" long nose needle nose pliers. Then use a hammer, the handle on the hammer is for leverage. you can get 4-6 a minute root and all. pull the weed about a 1/2" up then you can pull it out root and all without making a big hole. It works great with minimal effert


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## relic4

Scotts Weed and  Feed is banned in Canada thanks to our Enviromentalists


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## CallMeVilla

I noticed the same problem with Scott's Weed and Feed  ...  if it doesn't get right on the weed, you have not necessarily killed it.  Plus, the stuff is really expensive if you cover the entire lawn. Plus, plus, if you use it in a broadcast mode you are putting lots of chemicals on your lawn.

How about this:  A water spray bottle in one hand and an old glass bottle with big holes stabbed in the lid.  Fill the glass bottle with Scotts Weed and Feed.  Just walk through the lawn and spray water on each weed (not that big a deal).  Shake the W&F directly onto the weed so it adheres directly.  This guarantees death to the weed and a minimum use of the chemicals.

For fertilizer, I but generic with a complete nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium ratio such as 21-7-14, 16-6-8.  Some lawn guys like 15-15-15 but I get better results with the first two.

One other tip, I mow "high." I grow grass at its highest-recommended height to encourage a deep root system. Taller grass blades shade the soil to reduce moisture loss, protect the grass crown (growing points), and ensure blades will not wilt as easily when mowed. Lawns at their highest mowing heights grow more slowly, which in turn reduces water use and the need to mow.

BUT, taller lawns force weeds to grow upward, through the blades, which exposes the weed branch to weed killed!


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