Dandelions, scientifically known as taraxacum officinale are plants belonging to the same family as sun flowers and exist with about forty species across the world. They are totally edible with leaves which can be used to make salads and with edible roots. They can also be used to make wine, stringer tea or for medicinal use.
They normally thrive in summers and cold springs, with notable growth condition preference of wet grounds with full sun. However, when in lawns, they are not useful at all. They form clumps and consequently create poor field footing.They also exhibit yellow flower color with the plant being of different texture than the normal lawn turf grass.
Dandelions grow best in compacted soils and hence easily thrive in lawns which are high traffic areas. Established dandelions can do well in pure dry conditions, they are resilient plants and resistant to pest control.
Dandelions are hard to control but can be managed through regular lawn upkeep. One should aerate the lawn soil during summers with an aim of changing the balance to favor his/her grass. Regular fertilizing and re seeding of the bare patches of the lawn is useful in making the soil less susceptible to dandelions. In cases where only few dandelions can be seen at different places on the lawn, they should be manually pulled out.
Chemical control of dandelions is also useful in places of resistant dandelions. For instance, methods such as weed and feed could be used. Here, the fertilizer is usually mixed with the herbicide after application of crabgrass preventer. The lawn is usually watered before the fertilizer application.
Hose end concentrates are also useful in the control of dandelions since this is a method that ensures that the herbicide is in direct contact with the dandelion. This method can effectively control dandelions within a period of between two and four days.
During the early fall, dandelions usually store up food resources for winter and can also effectively be controlled at that stage through spraying.
Preventive measures can also be used to control dandelions in your lawn despite them being hard windborne and hard to prevent from spreading. For instance, the dealing with the current dandelions before they produce seeds, this helps limit further invasion. One should be careful to pluck the plants together with the roots before they produce seeds. Those parts of your lawn that are heavily affected should be isolated and control done separately.
Though not terribly effective, mulching can also be applied to the lawn to control fabric spreading. Certain chemicals such as oxyfluorfen and Isoxaben can be applied to the soil before germination reduces chances of dandelion infestation. However, this has a main challenge of the fact that dandelion usually has an extended germination period.
Other chemicals like glyphosate can also be used in spot treatment of dandelion infections. Dandelions are persistent and should, therefore be managed proactively. Their roots are extensive, and some species are persisted for up to five years. They are easy to control in places where they have not fully gotten established and hence should be managed at the first stages of development.