Do you guys treat your lawns to kill the dandy lions?

[burn the bush]

I live in a hoity toit area that I don't belong in and can't wait to get out of, but all my neighbors treat their lawns for dandylions. I feel that the assholes are just polluting for no good reason. Treat your lawn if you have poison ivy but I actually like the dandy lions.

They are great for kids. They can pick flowers for mommy, make things yellow by rubbing the flower on things, use the stems to make chains for necklaces, bracelets, or whatever, and the greens are a good herbal tea I think.

Course i hate them when they seed. They are good for that trick where you take the seeding dandy lion and break off a part of the stem and give it to someone to hide on themselves. You close your eyes while they hide it. When you turn around you ask them "is it in your hand?" they say no. You say "let me see" They open their hand. It's not there. You do this again picking a spot where you are pretty sure it's not hidden and make them show you that it's not there.

then you say "is it in your mouth?" and they say no. You say "show me" they open their mouth and you shove in the seeded dandy lion head. They go to spitting it out yuck.

It's a really great juvenile joke to play

you guys remember?

Anyway, my neighbors hate me and my dandyliion lawn as you know how those seeds can fly to their yards and plant new seedlings for them to have to kill.

[shoelace414]

1. I use weed-b-gone

but for general lawn feeding.. I use Milorganite

[demnan]

2. They don't bother me

but if they did, I'd dig them out with a small trowl and fill any remaining hole with grass seed.

[ihaveaquestion]

3. No, not for Dandylions, but I'll do whatever I have to ....

to get rid of fireants if they invade (I live in Florida)!

I hate those suckers! :mad:

[BOSSHOG]

11. Them sonsabitches make me cuss

We live in south Mississippi and I used Scott's Turf Builder and Fire Ant Killer on part of our one acre. Its a little pricey but its worked great for the past month. No fire ants. Its supposed to last for four months, which means it will probably last longer than that. Anybody accidentally stepping in a fire ant mound will slap the cash down for the poison.

[megatherium]

4. The trick is not to wait until after they appear.

They're hard to get rid of if they've already appeared. The trick is to put pre-emergent down before they germinate, in the late winter. Pre-emergent is a chemical extracted from corn plants, that prevents broad-leaved plants from germinating. (Mother Nature plays dirty pool; plants in the wild use chemical warfare against each other.) The pre-emergent is harmless to animals and people, completely non-toxic. If you do this two or three years running, you'll have practically no dandylions.

I've wanted to put up a flag on the front of my house, with a dandylion on it. Kind of like a suburban Jolly Roger.

[Quakerfriend]

5. I sssssssssssoooooooo object to those who treat their lawns

as well. To me this represents Americans at their worst. Ignorant of the fragility of our ground water, ignorant of the relationship between the chemicals we use and their impact on our health, and last but not least "vain" to the point of being idiotic!!

I am the only one in the neighborhood who allows the dandelions to grow. In fact, I pick them and use them in salads, stir fry them, and juice with them. Dandelion is a magnificent tonic for the liver, and a wonderful source of vitamins!

Did you know that it is ILLEGAL to use chemicals on your lawn if you live in Canada. Their "FDA" does NOT approve all of these poisons, and our government should not either. They are simply in bed with the Duponts of the world, and couldn't give a rats behind about the health of ordinary Americans.

[BOSSHOG]

15. Thank you so much

Stick your foot in a fire ant mound accidentally (which is easy to do) and you may reconsider treating your lawn.

[slackmaster]

6. My desert tortoise eats most of them

Yummy!

[ScooterTramp]

21. He's so cute!

:hi:

[slackmaster]

24. Friendly too

He likes cats and they tolerate him. Sometimes I find him lying in the sun next to two or three cats.

[ScooterTramp]

26. ~Giggle!~ He has his pets, then.

[slackmaster]

27. My usual critter sitter calls him "the hard-shelled cat"

And he does behave much like a cat, except he's a vegetarian.

[ScooterTramp]

28. Of course, he's a tortoise-shell cat!

I'm happy you take good care of him. :)

[mahina]

7. Dig em up brah!

What, you forgot how?
Or salt works ok...for me anyway, alae salt.
Good luck with the neighbors, hate stinks. Shine the love!

[Robeson]

8. Nope, I like the mixed growth.

[Xithras]

9. I use a general Weed & Feed twice a year

I assume that it kills dandelions because I don't have any. I have nothing against dandelions myself, but we have other weeds in this area that will completely choke out lawns if allowed to run rampant.

[wideopen]

10. I treat mine with the lawn mower

My kids spend to much time in the yard to put poison on it, besides I like the color and they love to pick them for mommy.

[VelmaD]

12. Dude...killing dandelions is bad luck...

you gotta pick 'em, close your eyes and make a wish, blow all the seed-heads off...and if you get them all in one puff your wish will come true. :crazy:

[Lauri16]

13. Where I live,

the kids that are too young to mow lawns for extra money, go around asking people if they can pick the dandelions for like $.03-$.05 each. It's fun to watch them out there grabbing every possible dandelion, and they're out there making their own money.

[CornField]

14. If you must use chemicals, use weed-be-gone and paint it on with a brush

That way you aren't saturating the ground (and also killing your grass). There is very little run-off when you paint it onto the leaves.

As for me... I just let the neighbors have a fit. :)

[Speck Tater]

16. Put up a sign in your front yard...

declaring it to be a national endagered wild weed preserve. And if anybody gives you grief tell them it is your sacred responsibility to protect the genetic diversity of the neighborhood ecosystem.

[noonwitch]

17. No-I have a dog who likes to play in the yard, and I'm not exposing her to

the chemicals. Anyways, dandelions are pretty.

[ScooterTramp]

18. I ~heart~ dandy lions!

[GreenPartyVoter]

19. We don't kill them, but I do cuss 'em out when weeding the flower beds.

[Worst Username Ever]

20. Yes, I just treated my lawn last weekend.

I hate dandelions, and they spread. Like a weed. Literally.

[MadHound]

22. Sheesh, I've got four acres of lawn, out in the country.

I'm doing good to keep it mowed, much less treat it. Besides, I've never been a big fan of chemicals. I don't like it myself, I like the critters that are on my place and don't want to drive them away, and my wife is sensitive to chemicals.

What I'm looking to do here in a couple of weeks is to start plugging in Zoiza grass. It literally takes over everything, including dandelions, and more importantly to me, it only has to be mowed three or four times a year.

[supernova]

23. No, I let the dandelions grow

:-) I like watching them.

Besides I've got the little buttercup flowers, moss, and running cedar too.

[auntAgonist]

25. I like the colour yellow ... We do nothing about the dandelions.

We cut the grass and have a few perrenial plants and thats IT

Our 'republican' neighbours hate us.

:cry: too bad eh?

We're in a country setting on just over an acre and we like the 'natural' look. Hate pesticides.

aA

[Abelman]

29. I like 'em

A child's flower,
The sun on
The long thin
Grass finger of
Mother Nature.
Watered by a child's
Tears and bathwater,
Planted in shredded
Chocolate bars,
Fertilized by jellybeans,
Dog's hair,
Tree bark.
Picked by the child for his
Mom, or Dad
To sit in a vase
Till it bends
To the Surface
Of the table
And a fresh one is picked
That has grown
From the spun-sugar
seed.

[DS1]

30. Not if they're Songlions

:-)

[coffeenap]

31. Nope--won't poison my kids' world just for "carpeting". However,

since they bother dh I go out every few days and pull off the yellow parts and current buds. The rest just blends in with the grass.

[Paranoid_Portlander]

32. My neighbors might report me if I didn't.

Seriously. Last year I got rid of all weeds, and they still reported me to the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, which is a department of the City of Portland, because my landscaping was less than perfect. The city agreed with the neighbors.

[Inland]

33. Make "horta" from the stems and leaves.

Recipes

Macaroni with wild green
(Serves 4-6)

1 kilo mixed wild green
¼ dup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt
ground hot pepper
450g macaroni
100g ricotta cheese sliced less than 1 cm thick
½ cup grated pecorino or parmesan

Wash and trim the greens. Cook them, uncovered, in Plenty of boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the water with tongs to save the water for cooking the pasta. Drain well in a colander or sieve. Coarsley chop the greens. Combine the oil, garlic, and chopped greens in a large frying pan and sauté, turning until everything is coated. Continue gently until cooked through, adding water as needed to keep the greens moist. Season to taste with salt and hot pepper and remove from the heat. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the water from the greens until tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the water. Toss the pasta with half of the greens and the reserved pasta water. Spread with the remaining greens and arrange the ricotta salata or extra form tufu slices on top. Serve immediately, passing round the grated cheese at the table.

Wild green gumbo
(Serves 6)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup olive oil
4 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped green and/or red pepper
1 cup sliced wild leek (white parts and green
tops) or scallions
6 cups vegetable broth
6 cups water
4 cups any combination of wild greens
2 tbs paprika
2 tbs salt
2 tsp oregano
6 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 cup snipped parsley
2 tbs gumbo fili powder (you can make this yourself from dried foraged young Sassafras leaves)

In a heavy Dutch oven or any large thick-bottomed cooking pot combine flour and oil until smooth. Cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir about 20 minutes more, or until mixture is reddish brown. Add onion, celery, green pepper and wild leeks: cook and stir for 5 minutes. If you're using previously blanched and frozen greens, wait to add them with the mushrooms and parsley. Add chicken broth, water, greens, paprika, salt, oregano and pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and parsley. Simmer uncovered about 5 minutes more or until mushrooms are done. Remove from heat. Stir in fili powder.


http://www.helleniccomserve.com/borntobewild.html

[sakabatou]

34. No...

But my backyard needs it. We have plants that have almost reached the roof of my house.

[Blue Gardener]

35. I just dig them up

With a dandelion weeder.