# Killing dandelions **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 13, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817 "2017-06-13T00:00:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/21 "2017-06-13T11:35:17Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > > [@tomndebb](#): > > > > If I poisoned the dandelions, I would have nothing to feed out **uromastekes**. > > (bolding mine) > Piss hater ? Scientists are just fucking with us, aren’t they ? Don’t forget the dreaded uroboros! ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/22 "2017-06-13T11:47:59Z")
Make enough of this [http://www.wellpreserved.ca/how-to-make-dandelion-wine-recipe/](http://www.wellpreserved.ca/how-to-make-dandelion-wine-recipe/) and you won’t care anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/23 "2017-06-13T11:57:24Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > If you were serious about getting rid of them you would dig up the taproot. Works every time. It’ll kill your back, wear out your knees and take forever. But it works. > [@silenus](#): > > [$30 on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004S1Z5/ref=asc_df_B00004S1Z55027594/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=395033&creativeASIN=B00004S1Z5&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167140116641&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11785853762994101907&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031472&hvtargid=pla-306572291273). It’s the only way. This is what I did, using a tool like that. It’s a ton of work the first time but then you just need to walk around once or twice a week looking for any new ones threatening to rise up. I’ve done nothing else (no fertilizer or anything) for my lawn but it looks very nice now. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/24 "2017-06-13T12:29:47Z")
Please [research](https://www.google.ca/search?q=round+up+and+bees&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=f9k_WZaJHMvMjwSY3I3QBQ#safe=off&q=bees+and+roundup) Bees and Roundup. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/25 "2017-06-13T12:49:56Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > If you were serious about getting rid of them you would dig up the taproot. Works every time. It’ll kill your back, wear out your knees and take forever. But it works. This is what I do. I don’t have to worry, then, about weed killers poisoning my other flowers, herbs, or lawn. Or me. Get 'em early and you won’t have to pull out so many. You don’t actually have to remove the taproot (although that’s best). If you go after them every day and pluck the flowers before they turn into those puffballs of seeds, you’ll prevent them from reproducing. I find great satisfaction in going over my lawn every day or so and uprooting the dandelions trying to establish a beachhead. ---
**Author:** ![Lubricious\_Integument](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lubricious\_Integument](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lubricious_Integument)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/26 "2017-06-13T13:03:04Z")
> [@slumtrimpet](#): > > Please [research](https://www.google.ca/search?q=round+up+and+bees&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=f9k_WZaJHMvMjwSY3I3QBQ#safe=off&q=bees+and+roundup) Bees and Roundup. Google customizes results so your results may differ but the first non-ad link in that search takes me to an article titled “Study Finds Glyphosate and Acetamiprid to Have Relatively Low Toxicity for Honey Bees” published by those well-known Monsanto sycophants at the Entomological Society of America. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/27 "2017-06-13T13:20:24Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > They are only weeds if you don’t want them. Otherwise, they’re just flowers. Oh this was my original approach for years. But now that we are going to have a fenced yard again for dogs, they make it nearly impossible to pick up the poop. We don’t mow other than weed eat the ‘yard’ about once a year. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/28 "2017-06-13T13:29:27Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > If I poisoned the dandelions, I would have nothing to feed out uromastekes. > We’ll live with the vegetation and each uromastyx will grow fat on the produce. We have an African spur thighed tortoise. He LOVES dandelions and various other broadleaf weeds. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/29 "2017-06-13T14:46:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This is what I do. I don’t have to worry, then, about weed killers poisoning my other flowers, herbs, or lawn. Or me. > > Get 'em early and you won’t have to pull out so many. You don’t actually have to remove the taproot (although that’s best). If you go after them every day and pluck the flowers before they turn into those puffballs of seeds, you’ll prevent them from reproducing. > > I find great satisfaction in going over my lawn every day or so and uprooting the dandelions trying to establish a beachhead. This gardener will go with that post so far. But yeah, try to get the _entire_ tap root (not always easy), so that it won’t grow back. Because of environmental concerns, I try to avoid using round-up, but in those very rare instances where there’s no other option, I use it as _infrequently_ and as _sparingly_ as possible. (Usually for grass growing out of cracks in driveways/sidewalks.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/30 "2017-06-13T15:56:18Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > This gardener will go with that post so far. > But yeah, try to get the _entire_ tap root (not always easy), so that it won’t grow back. So I’ve always been told, but I['ve never had a problem with them growing back. I find that for most purposes, it suffices simply to get rid of the part above ground. I have a dandelion prod if I get really ambitious and want to get the whole root. I find, in many places, that the dandelion has a pretty weak hold on the ground, and pulling it up brings up the root as well. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/31 "2017-06-13T16:25:49Z")
I agree with the “root 'em out” approach. I’ve found that if you break the ground with a tip of a spade right next to the root nexus, the entire root will pull out rather easily. That is, if you go through the yard every day or so to catch them. If you let one grow for weeks into a monster, then, yeah, the taproot has a much stronger hold. I am certainly not against chemicals, and do spray for other weeds from time to time. However, dandelions have developed a defense mechanism that as soon as the plant realizes it is about to die it immediately puffs out as a last grasp effort to get those seeds dispersed. So you may think you’ve gone on a killing spree with your chemical spray, but come back the next day (or even later that afternoon) and watch in horror as you now have a yard full of brown, withered dandelion leaves–all with puffballs. You can’t win with this approach. Gotta dig 'em up. (And you have to quickly dispose of the ones you dig up. I once made the mistake of leaving my bag of dug up dandelions on the sidewalk, and the next day _all the dead dandelions [or maybe I should say “mostly dead”] had puffed out_ and the wind was blowing the seeds everywhere.) ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/32 "2017-06-13T16:35:07Z")
Get 2,4-D from the farm store. You have to sign for it but that’s what parks departments and turf growers use. The big thing is to spray it in the spring when the plants are small and just starting to really grow. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/33 "2017-06-13T16:37:10Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > (And you have to quickly dispose of the ones you dig up. I once made the mistake of leaving my bag of dug up dandelions on the sidewalk, and the next day _all the dead dandelions [or maybe I should say “mostly dead”] had puffed out_ and the wind was blowing the seeds everywhere.) If I catch them well before the seeds can sprout, I just throw the weeds on the sidewalk or asphalt to die. If they’re in danger of turning into seed, I bury them under a rock. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/34 "2017-06-13T16:42:05Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > This gardener will go with that post so far. > But yeah, try to get the _entire_ tap root (not always easy), so that it won’t grow back. > Because of environmental concerns, I try to avoid using round-up, but in those very rare instances where there’s no other option, I use it as _infrequently_ and as _sparingly_ as possible. (Usually for grass growing out of cracks in driveways/sidewalks.) Getting the root in my yard is really tough. Living the Rocky Mountains, well the ‘soil’ makes a great anchor for the little devils. It’s basically a mixture of clay and road base. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/35 "2017-06-13T17:32:35Z")
Get them before they sprout the flower and add them to your salad. Pop their evil little heads off and turn them into wine. Pull out the roots, clean and dry them and make ersatz coffee. Once they realize you are farming them, they’ll immediately die off. That’s what happens with pretty much every other plant I’ve tried to grow…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/36 "2017-06-13T17:56:20Z")
Yes, dandelions are hard to kill. This is a good thing, because it means we get lots of dandelions. I’ve never been able to understand the hate they get, when there’s nothing at all wrong with them (especially with bacon dressing). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/37 "2017-06-13T18:20:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yes, dandelions are hard to kill. This is a good thing, because it means we get lots of dandelions. I’ve never been able to understand the hate they get, when there’s nothing at all wrong with them (especially with bacon dressing). well, if your lawn is 90% dandelion, it looks kinda gross. I have seen this. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/38 "2017-06-13T18:34:30Z")
So this isn’t about Bill O’Reilly’s latest book? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/39 "2017-06-13T18:45:58Z")
The entire root needs to be removed. My lawn book shows, by way of example, a series of photos in which a person pulls up a dandelion, cuts the root into four parts, and puts them in dirt. Each piece sprouted an entire new dandelion. So, since chemical control isn’t working for you, your next-best option is getting them out manually. The weeder linked to above is a great tool, though I’ve only used the shorter hand-tool version. A large flathead screwdriver is pretty effective, too; just jab into the ground near the thing and pry the whole plant up. There’s one more option, but it’s slower, and you’ll have to be diligent: every day, maybe even more than once a day, walk your yard, and pull off flower heads from every dandelion you see. No flowerheads means no seeds, and the plant has to burn its energy trying to grow a new one. Eventually, the plant will just die, and if you’ve kept on top of it, there’ll be no seeds to make new dandelions. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817/40 "2017-06-13T18:51:16Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > The entire root needs to be removed. My lawn book shows, by way of example, a series of photos in which a person pulls up a dandelion, cuts the root into four parts, and puts them in dirt. Each piece sprouted an entire new dandelion. > > So, since chemical control isn’t working for you, your next-best option is getting them out manually. The weeder linked to above is a great tool, though I’ve only used the shorter hand-tool version. A large flathead screwdriver is pretty effective, too; just jab into the ground near the thing and pry the whole plant up. > > There’s one more option, but it’s slower, and you’ll have to be diligent: every day, maybe even more than once a day, walk your yard, and pull off flower heads from every dandelion you see. No flowerheads means no seeds, and the plant has to burn its energy trying to grow a new one. Eventually, the plant will just die, and if you’ve kept on top of it, there’ll be no seeds to make new dandelions. The reason I went straight to the spray/weed killer is because the ‘soil’ in my yard makes it damn near impossible to pull them up. Even with special tools. I’ve pulled plenty in regular soil. This is a whole different kettle o fish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killing-dandelions/788817.md?page=3)