dandelions

silverharp

ok , they are laughing at me at the moment and I want to get my own back. Can anyone recommend a good tool to dig them out whole. I have a hand held tool to cut around the weed but too tiring to use on a lot of weeds. Are there any tools where you can use your foot or body weight to extract the whole root etc.? ( will the usual stores in Dublin have them?)

failing that has anyone used salt? is it a sustainable treatment or would it start to damage the soil quality over time?

Xiney

My parents have had one of these for at least 30 years. Works better to remove dandelions from grass than anything else I've ever seen. Just pop it into the soil next to the dandelion and use the soil as the fulcrum of a lever to pop the dandelion out with the full root.

If you're weeding in a garden though, a dutch hand held garden weeding hoe is the easiest ever.

nulabert

Anyone recommend a good weed killer for these fecker? Gave the lawn the first cut last sat and now its yellow with them.

Looking for something that won't kill the bit of grass thats mixed in with all the moss? Sunday and monday is promised dry so intend spraying this weekend.

Goodne

Hi, I used Evergreen Complete 4 in 1 on my lawn last week & it really worked on the dandelions. Its fertilises grass & kills weeds & moss. Just make sure you don't miss every other strip like I did; now I have a lovely strippey lawn!!

John Mason

a weed wand is your only man

my garden has never so weed free


http://www.mrmiddleton.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=351&category_id=37&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=37

John Mason

Goodne wrote: »

Hi, I used Evergreen Complete 4 in 1 on my lawn last week & it really worked on the dandelions. Its fertilises grass & kills weeds & moss. Just make sure you don't miss every other strip like I did; now I have a lovely strippey lawn!!

oh, i used this 3 weeks ago, its was brilliant

silverharp

irishbird wrote: »

a weed wand is your only man

my garden has never so weed free


http://www.mrmiddleton.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=351&category_id=37&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=37

does that kill the taproot?

Xiney wrote:

My parents have had one of these for at least 30 years. Works better to remove dandelions from grass than anything else I've ever seen. Just pop it into the soil next to the dandelion and use the soil as the fulcrum of a lever to pop the dandelion out with the full root.

I'll have a look for that, might be easier to use then this which is what I am using at the moment

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/pages/product/productEnlarge.asp?prod=GGT-336&url=www.harrodhorticultural.com

foxinsox

I'm currently experimenting using boiling water to kill them..

A friend told me that it kills them straight away. So kettle boiled and out I go...like a mad women out in the garden pouring boiling water into the centre of each dandelion plant/weed.

I did the first killings last week, now I do have yellow patches on the lawn where the dandelions have died. So not sure what is going to happen now..

Use this advice at your own risk.. I'll update in a while and let you know if they come back.

I've also done this on the concrete driveway and it seems to have killed them!

racso1975

Yeah i have a lawn thats way to big to do with a tool or boiling water. Spread a weed killer on it at weekend and luckily it rain gave grass a cut yesterday looked like some had died and others still seemed to be going strong.

Left too early this morning to tell if they were mostly gone as i have noticed they dont raise their heads till the sun comes out :rolleyes:

Sonnenblumen

Sprinkle some salt in the centre of the dandelion will kill the plant. An alternative method is to brush it with diluted vinegar.

Dead dandelion will leave patches which can be raked and re-seeded.

silverharp

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Sprinkle some salt in the centre of the dandelion will kill the plant. An alternative method is to brush it with diluted vinegar.

Dead dandelion will leave patches which can be raked and re-seeded.

i'd read that normal vinegar doesnt have much acetic acid which is the active ingredient, I did see some advice about boiling it down to make it stronger.

I'll be giving the salt a try

Xiney

Silverharp2 wrote: »

i'd read that normal vinegar doesnt have much acetic acid which is the active ingredient, I did see some advice about boiling it down to make it stronger.

I'll be giving the salt a try

acetic acid's boiling point is only a few degrees above that of water - you'd probably end up boiling almost as much acetic acid away as water.

you can buy 10% acetic acid vinnegar in polish shops.

That said, I've never heard of using it to kill dandelions - I suspect simply taking them out with the tool I posted above would be a better use of one's time, since if it kills the grass surrounding the dandelion it's not such a great treatment.

Drake66

Don't poison them. The leaves are a great salad. The flowers are very nice when you boil them.

mossfort

spray the lawn with mortone it will kill the weeds without damaging the grass.

John Mason

silverharp wrote: »

does that kill the taproot?

yes, it does and its great for killing woodlice nests:)

dh0661

irishbird wrote: »

and its geat for killing woodlice

Why??? would you want to kill woodlice

Discodog

Fiskars do a superb forked weeder like Xiney's - Stainless steel & with a nice comfy handle. Less than a tenner in B&Q.

The Fiskars Transplanting trowel also in B&Q is excellent as well.

As for killing them. Verdone for lawns & Roundup every where else. I keep a handy spray of Verdone on the handle of the mower.

doctor evil

Any long tool good for digging up dandelions/daisies for those with a sore back?

Discodog

These can be fitted to a range of handles. They work but leave a bigger hole.

http://www.wolf-garten.co.uk/index.php?id=1000&tx_sytproductdb_pi13%5BshowUid%5D=97&cHash=9b7c33dcfa

iora_rua

I've tried a mixture of vinegar, washing up liquid and vodka to kill dandelions etc, and it worked quite well - just put the mix in a spray type bottle/container and use on a calm day. You'd have to check out 'natural weed killers' or somesuch online to get the exact quantities, which I've now forgotten!

I'm going to try one of those burner gadgets from Lidl (or was it Aldi?) this year.

I'd go easy on the salt - it's not good for the soil at all, at all ...

Discodog

There is nothing natural about washing up liquid & Vodka (what a waste !) & both are potentially harmful to wildlife. Washing up liquid is a huge irritant to earthworms, so much so that it is used as a way of catching them - they rush to the surface to escape the liquid.

A burner will struggle to kill the tap root & in the meantime may cause a black patch on the lawn.

Discodog

doctor evil wrote: »

Any long tool good for digging up dandelions/daisies for those with a sore back?

Wolf also do this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/multi-star-Weeding-Knife-Wolf-Garten-Garden-Tools-/260572202558?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Home_Garden_GardenEquipment_HandTools_SM&hash=item3cab50463e#ht_1207wt_941

Master and commander

mechanically digging up dandelions willl be a futile and frustrating excercise as any fragment of a root will regenerate. If your lawn is any way large the most effective treatment is a MCPA or CMPP spray. These will keep all broadleaved weed in check for about two years. Now you won't find this in the likes of woodies or B&Q. You will have to go to an agricultural suppliers. You will probably have to buy 5 litres but i gaurantee, per litre it will work out about 1 tenth of the price of the overpriced consumer rubbish that you get in the big garden centers, plus you will have plenty for future use. Look for the brand names Duplosan for CMPP of Phenoxylene for MCPA. CMPP is probably the more effective one as it also controls docks.

Again i advise you not to bother with the coloured water/piss you buy in Woodies/B&Q/Homebase type places.
Get the professional chemicals and you wont be dissappointed. Well cheaper in price per litre terms too.

As for wash up liquid/vodka/other home remedies - a pure waste of time, they will; not be effective in the long term, end up costing a lot more money in long term, a waste of vodka, are not broad spectrum i.e. what works on dandelions wont work on docks etc.
What i'm tring to say is this; Use week killer for killing weeds, wash up liquid for cleaning dishes and vodka for getting pissed. Anything else you might as well be pissing against the wind.

morg

You can try Scott's 'React' product diluted with water in a knapsack sprayer. Works very well and results can be seen after a few days. It's available from N.A.D and other Scott's agents. It's what the landscapers + green keepers use.Well worth the money

Nonmonotonic

Seems to be a problem with the Wolf-garten links. This or this maybe what you are looking for. You will need a handle as well.

I find their equipment very hardwearing but expensive.

redser7

Important to add to that healthy grass will suppress weeds naturally. A good simple maintenance program will do most of the work that these chemicals do.