Dandelions are such a common weed in lawns and in parks, it's
hard to imagine that they are not native to North America.
Dandelions were intentionally introduced to the Americas from
Europe, where they were considered a beneficial plant due to
their nutritional and medicinal value.
The name of the plant comes not from its golden mane, but rather
from the serrated leaves of the weed, which form an outline like
lion's teeth (thus the name "dent de lion", or teeth of the
lion).
Dandelion seeds can be blown into your yard from miles away, so
it is virtually impossible to prevent new plants from popping up
periodically, especially if your neighbors are less than
diligent in their own lawn maintenance.
If your lawn is mostly weed-free and you see a new dandelion
plant sprout up, pull the whole plant, including all the roots,
out as soon as possible. Do not let it go to seed.
You'll need to check on the area for the next few weeks to
ensure you got all the roots. A new dandelion plant can be
regenerated from less than one inch of remaining root, so
complete removal and subsequent checking is important.
If your lawn is very large, or contains a very large number of
dandelion infestations, you may wish to resort to herbicides.
Common herbicides in use in various parts of North America are
glyphosate (i.e. Roundup?), triclopyr (i.e. Garlon?), and
mecoprop or MCPP (i.e. Trimec?). Be aware, however, that some of
these herbicides are deemed to be health hazards, and some
municipalities prohibit their use.
Smaller lawns can be maintained quite easily with dandelion
knives and other tools designed to remove the weed.
To pull a dandelion plant, first thoroughly water the area
around the plant, then use a weed knife or dandelion digger to
loosen the soil around the roots. Use the tool to lever the root
out of the soil. If the root feels like it will break rather
than come out, add more water and reposition the tool.
Some of the new tools created for dandelion removal include a
blade that attaches to a drill to extract the root, and a water
powered weeder that uses a high-pressure stream of water to
create a hole beside the root, making the plant easy to pull out.
Pulled weeds can be composted as long as they have not yet set
seed, and they are dead. Let pulled dandelions wither and die in
the sun till before adding them to your composter.
And if the dandelions eventually win the war on your lawn, you
can at least make use of them. The plants have high vitamin and
mineral content, the roots and leaves can be used to make tea,
the leaves and flowers can also be used in salad, or to make
beer and wine.
About the author:
This article provided courtesy of http://www.flowerrs-usa.com
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