Thanks for the tips about the coffee grounds and eggshells guys :) I am now trying both. The last few years we have had an ever-increasing problem with dandelions and we are in a constant fight with The Killer Blackberry Bushes. Chemicals we have tried bother my little one who is only 5lbs. I tried several things last year with not a lot of success. I saw this tip at HGTV and then later on Pinterest and I gave it a shot today.

1 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup table salt
a squirt of dish soap

They used a spray bottle but I had an old basting brush I used to really work it down in there. I also scratched them up with a fork before I applied in FULL SUN. Well, it has only been a few hours but it is working! The berry is bent in half (they laugh at Round-Up) and the dandelions are shriveling. I am going to keep at it and do some every day. I thought this could be of use to some of ya :)

As a side note, it is also great for making your pennies shine!

I was trying to find something for black medic. (I had to look it up to find out the name.) It killed everything, but then my ex told me it would before I sprayed it on. I have to make sure my dogs aren't in the backyard after my ex sprays for this horrible weed. I don't let them back there for 2 days and then I water really well. (My ex is a horticulturist.)

All of these things are supposedly not toxic to animals. SUPPOSEDLY.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2018 11:56PM by cl2.

Black Medic is a really tough one. I'm a farmer (retired) so had access to all the commercial herbicides. The only one I found to be effective on Black Medic is Par 3. It contains Mecoprop-p, 2,4-D and Dicamba. It works well but you probably wouldn't want to use it on lawns where children play or that pets run around on unless you keep them off for 48 hours and the irrigate well to wash off residual chemical.
On the plus side, it doesn't thrive as well on well watered lawns and the bees love it.

and whatever he sprays it with works a lot better than what I buy at the store, but then I have to get him to spray it!! Which doesn't work very often. I water my lawn a lot, but we have poor soil here and whoever owned the home didn't put topsoil on before planting lawn. Where I get black medic is in a really sunny area, but most lawns around here have it. I walk my dogs in different places and see it all over. My neighbor, of all things, pulls it. I'd be spending 24/7 on my lawn that way.

I think mine started with having a trampoline that I moved around when the kids were younger. Hate the stuff.

P.S. My father was a farmer and a school teacher. Both grandfathers were farmers. I've always taken note that you are a farmer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2018 04:07PM by cl2.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-make-dandelion-wine-1327932

Seriously, I have so many dandelions, I might go into business.

I'm not trying to kill them this year because the soil it so compacted from the previous owner that I'm allowing the tap roots to break it up some. My neighbors love me and have doubled down on sanitizing their lawns. I border a river, so I'm not even poisoning the blackberries, but I'm sorely tempted to.

I'm also heading toward creating a food forest, blah blah, empty nester hippie stuff, blah.

The lawn is nothing to brag about anyway. Sheet mulch this fall, throw down some crimson clover seed, see what the spring brings.

:-)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2018 01:01AM by Beth.

We had a lot of dandelions on our property. Every year when the white seed tops start showing up, I walk around with a bag and pick them off, being careful not to let any seeds go. Then I throw the bag in the garbage. I do it every couple days or when ever I see new tops during the few weeks they are seeding. The front yard is about 1/2 an acre and it doesn't take long. Nice wind down after work.

Over a few years, I have seen a dramatic decrease in the amount of dandelions. This year we didn't have many at all.

This is the best method of getting rid of dandelions in your lawn short of digging them out by hand. It's work either way, but at least you aren't dealing with stuff that's either toxic to everything around, or just plain ineffectual.

ETA - your method also lets honey bees have a chance at the pollen and nectar while the flowers are in bloom. Win, win.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2018 11:04AM by fossilman.

My property borders a large creek in the back so I don't like using chemicals that can get in there through the ground water. Now if only my neighbor would stop using round up on his side of the drainage ditch that runs between our properties!

Round Up (glyphosate) becomes inert when exposed to dirt or even dirty water. It's not harmless but less so that most of the other herbicides.

Interesting. I'm having quite the issue with my vegetable garden. I made the mistake of rototilling some straw bales I had used for archery into my garden without composting it first. I now have a carpet of grass that comes up and I can't seem to get rid of it.

After 2 yeas of fighting it, I covered it in leaves and black plastic for a year and a half, but the grass came back this year. Its the type that grows back if any little root piece is left in the ground.

I'm now planning on just removing the top 4 -5 inches of soil and having some compost mix brought in. I can use the grassy dirt for fill around the property.

What about weed killer. If I use roundup, will my garden be OK to use the following year? Also thought about the water, vinegar and soap killer too....might be more "organic"?

Any thoughts are appreciated....would be nice to not replace all the dirt.

Roundup is not residual.

Yucca thrives on Round Up.
The only way to remove yucca is to use the nuclear option.

My farmyard is about 3-4 acres and every spring it's yellow with dandelions. And the honey bees from hives 1000 yards to the north of my yard love them, and then they go after my flowering trees and lilac hedges. I like doing my part to help out the beekeepers as they've had a tough time of it lately. I'll spray my gravel driveway with agricultural grade roundup but that's all I'll spray. My back won't tolerate more than that much walking.

I can vouch for Jonny the Smoke's method. It's what I've done for several years now and, by combining it with reasonably drastic mowing, the number of dandelions has actually fallen!

Tom in Paris

I had blackberries in my yard once, and I had to chop 'em down. Too aggressive, but I love those berries. I get them free at local creeks.

that actually *aren't* from the Himalayas, but let's just blame them for shit and giggles.

Yeah - they are delicious, but they can get GIGANTIC. They don't do well in the shade, so mine aren't super crazy, but I have to cut them back every few weeks or they'll invade the yard or wend their way up tree branches on the bank. They are sneaky.

I'm considering going to city council to request a variance so I can have a couple goats to eat those things, but the goats will eat everything else as well. The river bank is very steep, and I almost fell into the drink one day. My dog bounced tennis balls off my head as I clung onto some mystery vegetation and prayed SweetJesusLordMaryJosephBrotherJohnDon'tLetMeFallIntoTheRiver.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2018 01:02AM by Beth.