3 ms·

I'm going to question the 'beautiful flowers' part of that. From an aesthetic point of view Dandelion flowers don't have a lot going for them. They're aggress

I'm going to question the 'beautiful flowers' part of that. From an aesthetic point of view Dandelion flowers don't have a lot going for them. They're aggressively yellow and tend to visually dominate over other plants (and they're extremely efficient at propagating, so if you don't actively control them, they'll quickly become the majority flower) while they're blooming, and the blooms don't even last very long, sometimes less than 24 hours, and a dandelion head that's shed its seeds looks kind-of ugly. I generally have a very light-touch approach to gardening, but even I draw the line at dandelions. The correct method of dealing with them is a trowel though, not weedkiller.

RajT88 3y ago
Indeed, Dandelions are beautiful when blooming, but less so before the blooms where they appear as alien hydras with many heads and flailing tentacles. The flower stalks grow unbelievably fast too. I have been trying to rein in dandelions on my lawn this year, and thought I could control them by just snipping off the flower heads. Soon, I realized this would take an hour of labor a day that I didn't have to spend on lawn maintenance.
- ihaveajob 3y ago
  Also, the seeds spread FAR, so no matter what you do, they'll come back, for better or worse.
ed312 3y ago
As a recent lawn owner/steward of a small strip of ground, this is my approach as well. My view is if you want a more or less monoculture of grass, you should have to physically work for it (no fuel-powered tools either). In this sense, I treat the grass portion of my yard as a garden and do end up spending some time every week troweling out a few dandelions and other unwanted plants. I _do_ make sure I compost all the "weeds" I pull. Overall this seems environmentally friendly, and I do get a good chuckle every time someone asks me which herbicide I spray.
- YurgenJurgensen 3y ago
  This is true even if you're not going for monoculture. The daisies and clover can live in my lawn as much as they want, since their flowers are much less salient.
Auracle 3y ago
I don’t control our dandelions. I’m in a rural area with a large yard. I did try for a year or two and then realized I don’t actually dislike them and it’s not like I have neighbors that can see my yard. Believe you me though, there’s absolutely no way you could trowel your way out of my yard’s situation. Even (selectively) spraying wasn’t enough.

RajT88 3y ago

Indeed, Dandelions are beautiful when blooming, but less so before the blooms where they appear as alien hydras with many heads and flailing tentacles. The flower stalks grow unbelievably fast too. I have been trying to rein in dandelions on my lawn this year, and thought I could control them by just snipping off the flower heads. Soon, I realized this would take an hour of labor a day that I didn't have to spend on lawn maintenance.

ihaveajob 3y ago
Also, the seeds spread FAR, so no matter what you do, they'll come back, for better or worse.

ed312 3y ago

As a recent lawn owner/steward of a small strip of ground, this is my approach as well. My view is if you want a more or less monoculture of grass, you should have to physically work for it (no fuel-powered tools either). In this sense, I treat the grass portion of my yard as a garden and do end up spending some time every week troweling out a few dandelions and other unwanted plants. I _do_ make sure I compost all the "weeds" I pull. Overall this seems environmentally friendly, and I do get a good chuckle every time someone asks me which herbicide I spray.

YurgenJurgensen 3y ago
This is true even if you're not going for monoculture. The daisies and clover can live in my lawn as much as they want, since their flowers are much less salient.

Auracle 3y ago

I don’t control our dandelions. I’m in a rural area with a large yard. I did try for a year or two and then realized I don’t actually dislike them and it’s not like I have neighbors that can see my yard. Believe you me though, there’s absolutely no way you could trowel your way out of my yard’s situation. Even (selectively) spraying wasn’t enough.