Dandelions!

Is this the year of the dandelion or something? My whole yard is yellow. I've been working on getting rid of them for years, and I thought I had it under control until this year. There's more than I've ever had in the past 5 years all put together. Very discouraging to look outside and see that. Anyone else noticed an unusual amount of them this year?

They grow best on disturbed ground, and you have been moving the dirt around a bit, haven't you?

We have been moving lots of dirt where we are building, but they are growing everywhere this year, even in places that haven't been disturbed for years and years. I think every ungerminated seed that's been lying around germinated this spring. Gonna be another battle for quite a few years again. Oh well, the flowers are pretty I guess. :)

Joan, think salad, free. Or wine, ugh.

Make 'em healthy coffee substitute! ;) Or wine..

or tea! i saw an all blue blue bird eating the seeds!!!!
I have a ton in the field. We sprayed the yard last year and have NONE!!!

I don't think I will be making them into something to eat or drink, I think I'd rather just get rid of them. Dori, what did you spray yours with that they are all gone?

I will find out-dh got it!

I may be wrong, but I thought I heard that they need to be sprayed in the fall. I don't know why, but that is coming to mind. I have a few more than I did last year, but the neighbors field out behind out house was a beautiful yellow this spring. Then when they mowed later, it was like snow in my back yard. I figure there is no reason to fight an endless battle. I will never be rid of dandelions as long as the field is full of them! No one around here has the "lawn service" anyway.

Evert is correct. roast the root and then do sumting with it. you'll have to look it up

Still bitter though, yuck!

It would take years to eat all these dandelions, and I'm too impatient to wait that long. LOL! I hate to spray things, but I might resort to that so this problem just doesn't compound every year. The problem is, lots of them have already gone to seed and sent their seeds all over the place. Grrr!

We are having a terrible problem around my area with the flowers that have gone by. It looks like it is snowing out with the white fuzzies in the air. I've never seen it this bad. It covers the ponds and lakes and when you go outside you breath them and they get in your hair.Left my car window open yesterday and my seat was full of them. Had to get the vacuum out.Went fishing to a lake yesterday and everyone was complaining about it.

Gonna be pretty yellow for a few more years isn't it Snowhermit?

I spent two hours tonight digging the newcomers out of my flower beds. I know they grew from seed, 'cuz they weren't there last year. After two hours of digging, I didn't even really make a dent in it.

Dandelion is my new most hated weed!

Not to be contrary, but... I never could understand the craze to kill dandelions. In my eyes they are beautiful and add a wonderful contrasting yellow against the green spring grass. The daily dandelion bouquets that I receive from my six year old and the joy I see in her face when she gives them to me or blows the seeds to the wind is worth any inconvenience that they present in my flower beds and garden. I understand that I am in the minority here. Maybe you could blow all your seeds my way.

nmax, it's wonderful to see a kindred soul! My granddarling loves them, and I believe all children like to blow the heads away. They aren't a big drain on the soil's resources, so you don't need to worry about losing valuable nutrients and water. The roots aren't woody or difficult to get out of the way if you need the space. And when nothing else is blooming, it's really quite nice to spy a few yellow dandelions cheering up the landscape. Here, they are treated as welcome guests, or at least members of the family.

I also think dandelions are pretty and I don't fight them. I also don't fight the clover that blooms its pretty white blooms in my grass. I guess some of us hate them and some of us love them. That is the same with some of the other plants we have too. I know that 2-4-D works on dandelions in your lawn though. Good luck.

Well, tonight after we got to a point where we weren't all needed to work on the house, DS and I strung out lots of power cord and took the vacuum outside. He sucked up as many dandelion seeds/fluff as he could out of all the flower beds and we called it good enough. I can live with them in the lawn I guess, but not the flower beds. I hope this will cut down on the number of them that take root in the flower beds at least. The seeds/fluff was an inch deep in places where they got caught on something. It's unreal how many there are this year.

ROFLMAO JoanJ. I am picturing your neighbors watching you vacuuming your lawn and wondering why. "Why those people are so clean that they vacuum their lawn at night!" You will be the talk of North Dakota by morning! What a hoot to think about! Vacuuming the lawn. LOL
Lani

Well, that makes three of us that like dandelions anyway. Good luck on your battle with the dandelions JoanJ; they are a tough competitor. That sounds like a good idea of vacuuming the seeds and also presents an amusing image in my mind!

LOL! I guess I never thought about what it would look like if someone saw us. Hopefully no one did see us. Sucking up the dandelion seeds was so easy. You don't even had to get real close to them with the hose. They are so light and fluffy.

I never minded the dandelions in my yard, but after watching my neighbor do endless battle with them I started to feel a little guilty about what I was doing to this man's yard when I let mine go to seed so I pull them up now. He hates the Horse Herb (Calyptocarpus vialis) too, but I figure mine isn't going to cross the driveway and bother him.