Getting Rid of Dandelions

Flowers can be beautiful plants that brighten your garden. This unfortunately, is only true if you have the right kind of flowers. One type of flower that seems to want to grow no matter what you do is the dandelion. This golden flower is an annoying weed that takes hold of your lawn and spreads like crazy if not kept in check. Fortunately, you are not forced to live with dandelions. If you put forth just a little bit of work, you can get rid of the pesky plant and keep your lawn green.

One of the best and easiest things you can do to keep dandelions in check is to mow frequently while they are growing. If you mow often enough, you can cut down the dandelion before it has time to flower and spread more seeds over your lawn. This will only control the weed from spreading. To kill the weeds that you already have, you will have to do a little bit more.

If dandelions are growing in an area where there are no other plants, a weed killer is the easiest solution. Since this almost never happens, you can use natural ways to get them out of your lawn. The typical solution, which will work, is to pull the dandelions out by the roots. If you go to a gardening center, you should be able to find a tool that is made to do just that. This is a lot of work, especially if your lawn is infested, but it will work.

If you want to try alternative solutions, here are some ideas. Try covering them with cardboard, newspaper, or black plastic. This will stop the sun from reaching them and kill them off, but it is an eyesore. Another idea is to kill the dandelions off by pouring either boiling water on them or household vinegar over several days. Vinegar contains ingredients that are used in organic herbicides, and boiling water is just too hot for them. You can also burn them with a special dandelion torch, but be careful not to burn anything else. Finally, you can make your soil less acidic. Dandelions love the acid in your soil, but cannot stand really healthy, rich, fluffy soil. This is probably more work than any of the other methods, but it may be a good idea if you want better soil anyway.