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| Dad hard at work on our lawn. |
My father is a former Engineer. He made his way up from groundskeeper to Plant Operations Engineer at Chicago State. With that in mind, he's got all sorts of knowledge on lawns, gardens, weeds, chemicals, and seeds. He is semi-obsessive about a nice and trim lawn. Dandelions and dead grass are the enemy! We usually start raking up the dead grass and pulling any weeds by this time of year. Since the weather has been off and on with coolness, we haven't really had a chance. We also have another property we are renting to a nice older woman who is a friend to the family. Left in her hands, the lawn was okay-ish. However, the people she hired were sort of the problem. At sixty bucks a week, they were mowing the lawn and ignoring the Dandelions. If you've ever seen these things multiply and spread out, you know how easily a yard can be taken over by them. If you don't work to prevent these weeds from happening, you'll not only create work for yourself, but you'll also be making LOTS of work for your neighbors. UNCOOL. How did it all start? Take one empty house down the street, add another one, and stick THAT onto the lawn of our rented home, and you've got a problem. (However, if you want 'em there, you might get offended by this blog. I'm somewhere in the middle with them, actually. Fun to play with, not so fun to pull up.
This Wiki article seems to love them.)
Rule #1-Nip them in the Bud!
Simply cutting off Dandelions at the head will not cut the mustard. The technique I'm going to be talking about takes time and elbow grease. While there are plenty of sprays and drops and whatnot out there, the main objective is to GET RID of the weeds. If you see them, take them down. One today could mean ten tomorrow. Check and check again. Sometimes they are visible, sometimes they're closed up and hiding. Long story short, a healthy lawn is a happy lawn. Dandelions are an eyesore.
Rule #2--Perpetuate the Regimen!
Several years have gone by with the growth and multiplication of the Dandelions. This is how they spread and make homes on your lawn, in the dirt, etc. You have to be diligent with their removal. If you don't do anything about the one or two in the corner, you cannot be that shocked when you see six more sprouting up in the grass. They're called weeds for a reason. If you give them enough time--days, weeks, months, or years--they will not be shy about making an appearance where you may not want them.
Rule #3-Slackers need not Apply.
Once again, cutting off the heads of Dandelions is a very,
very short temporary fix. It's lazy and only DOUBLES your problems. Think about it. If you're cutting off the heads and leaving leaves and such all over, you're actually farming MORE weeds. Especially when the Dandelions turn into the Seed Heads. Now the wind is going to blow, blow them away and they're going to travel to your neighbor's house. Unless you're trying to farm them for food or herbal purposes, I'm pretty sure your neighbors don't want to share the wealth or the work. If chemicals are your thing, I high suggest doing extensive research to find what will work for you. Personally, I am an old-fashioned weed-puller kind of girl. Maybe someday with extensive lessons from my father I'll use a spray or something else. But for now, try a
short or
long-hand weed puller. It's hard work, but it's simple. All you have to do is find the base, stick the sharp end in, and press upward to root out the weeds. If those tools are too square, there's
plenty to choose from to get the job done.
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| The front lawn of a house two doors down. |
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| All over the Place! |
What was supposed to be a one-day project turned into a two-day adventure. In the entire history of our lawn, I've never seen Dandelions pop up UNDER the bushes of our front lawn. I've never seen them on the curbside, either. Before they'd even think about coming up in our lawn, my father would usually have it all under control with a spray. Lawns don't come polished and trimmed overnight. You have to work for them! In the end, my dad just said "what the heck" and decided his tenant should keep her money and he'd just do that yardwork with my help. If your gardener/lawn associate isn't going to do a full job, why should you pay them as if they WERE? It took a lot of work, but we got a lot done today. I wish I could say the same for the other lawns next down and further down. They make the rest of our quaint little neighborhood look so bad!
