I remember from years ago two “surefire” remedies for dandelions. One was called KILLER KANE(? & sp.), a hollow, green plastic tube about 30" long with a spring loaded tip that dispensed weedkiller that had been poured into the hollow tube, as you applied pressure at the top of the tube. You were in essence injecting the weedkiller EXACTLY where it was supposed to go, akin to using a hypodermic needle.
The other was an attachment for a hose, a long, small diameter metal tube through which the water flowed, under pressure. You stabbed the end of the metal tube down into the soil, to just where you thought the main root would/should be. The water was supposed to loosen the soil enough to allow the weed hunter to pull up the dandelion, tenacious taproot and all, from the sodden, now-loosened soil.
The first method is somewhat eco-friendly, the second, exactly so.
I’ve used the version above and there is a much better version of the same (although the one linked is awesome). The tool above is called “Grandpa’s Weeder”, if you ever want to look for one. The version I like is a modernized version by Fiskar’s, called a stand-up weeder. These will help you with all kinds of weeds and they’re easy to use. I’ve actually had the neighbors stop by and ask if they pull a few weeds with it while I’m working, because it looks so different. I just pull a the green waste barrel around with me and dump the weeds straight into it. Easy-peasy.
This is the easiest route, TBH. They prefer almost every plant over grass, so they’ll eat your weeds first, and then keep the grass trimmed. We had them on about 2 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains and they did a great job. They’ll even eat poison oak. 5 stars. Would buy again.
Yeah, those are funky to use - I’ve used those, as well as these. Unfortunately, even in the predominantly soft, moist soil where I live, I have maybe a (if I had to put a number on it) 70% success rate in removing the entire tap root with those implements, which I still occasionally use, anyway, if there’s a whole shitload of’em on a big lawn. It just kinda sucks seeing new weeds pop right back up in those holes that had part of the broken-off root still in them. Beats chemicals, anyway.
We had bindweed in the garden of the first house i owned.
The bindweed had roots that were like balls of spaghetti - if you dig them up, little pieces just break off and grow into new plants.
The only way I found to control them was:
Dig a trench at the fence line and put a vertical plastic sheet in it, to prevent them intruding from next door
Grass over the border next to the fence and keep mowing it
Use gel or paste herbicide on any parts of plants growing in from outside, or any that spring up inside the perimeter
Even then, it’s a battle that never ends, if the plants have a foothold outside of the areas you have direct control.
Horsetails were easier. I just kept pulling off the tops every time I saw them - eventually the roots died of exhaustion.
For dandelions, I would recommend a paste or gel formula herbicide. Just a little dab in the crown of the plant should do it, but be patient as it needs to kill the taproot.
Lucky you. I got a lotta clients with horsetails (heh not coming out of their rumpuses, that is) and at none of those properties do the horsetail roots die of exhaustion. If anything, they just spread even more, even with my weekly weedings. Been tempted to use the dreaded “R” word, but then manual weeding provides work, and work is an ok thing.
One of the best things that has ever happened for me was moving from a suburban neighborhood (with three retired neighbors that had nothing better to do than patrol their lawns for imperfections) to a hobby farm in the middle of nowhere where I’m free to enjoy my dandelions, quackgrass, creeping charlie, and every other “weed” that wanst to take root in my yard.
It should work - if you keep on pulling off all of the above-ground parts of the plants, they will regrow, expending stored food in the roots - if you keep on doing this frequently, you will win - the plants don’t grow by magic.
Perhaps weekly isn’t frequent enough, then, since some of these properties have been on my roster since I first got into this (private one-man) biz 13 years ago. Usually within a week’s time they can sprout from nothing to about a foot high. And growing in ever-expanding clusters. Less so in the winter, of course, which can have relatively moderate weather here on Vancouver Island.
It seems we have found something that works (fingers crossed).
30% Herbicidal vinegar. Household/cooking vinegar is about 5% ‘strength’.
Not to be toyed with, I think it could be weaponized. But I think it’s better for the environment than those super strong weed killers. Works better too.
It’s hard to find where I live, but I can order it and get it shipped (kinda surprised about that).
I was just thinking about this thread. Two weekends ago we reclaimed a 4 foot by 4 foot corner of our yard that was all vines, small trees, blackberries, etc. I used a brush cutter, and my small chainsaw, then used my Jeep to pull out a small stump.
I then covered the area with composted horse manure and rototilled everything together. Then I spread a broad-leaf weed seed mix over the area and covered it with straw. It’s coming up nicely. It’s a garden for tortoise food; the extreme antithesis of this thread.
I have one of the water-powered weeders, and it works pretty well for getting the whole dandelion root out, even in our mostly clay soil. It can take sometimes take a couple of tries if the root is growing crooked, but you may find it easier in softer soil.
