What is the best way to kill dandelions in the yard?

by NHO21741502

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without killing the other plants?

10 answers

Naomie Moore aka baileyanddaisey, Castaic CA on Apr 18, 2017

I pile on some salt, wet down and they die. Works best with full sun.

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- Susan Axsom Curtis on Apr 18, 2017
  
  After the dandelion is killed don't you have a bare spot that wont grow grass?
  
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- Doris on Apr 19, 2017
  
  I don't know if you are looking for natural products, but products like "Weed Be Gone" kills them but not the grass. You wouldn't want pets walking on it right after it's sprayed though, but should be OK once it has dried. Check the label plus there is also a telephone number to call the company with questions. Do you have a lot of dandelions? Here in our area, if our lawns are not treated every year we have a ton of them, but with regular "weed and feed" treatments, they are kept under control. We had a lawn service for about 2 years that got it under control and now we do the Step 4 program and we have a nice lawn. If you do have a lot of them, you would want to aerate and over seed in the fall, something that's also regularly done here in Pennsylvania. Clover and Crabgrass are very difficult to get rid of here though.
  
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- Naomie Moore aka baileyanddaisey, Castaic CA on Apr 19, 2017
  
  Some people use epsom salt to enhance or "green up" their lawns quickly. I use table salt or epsom salt (whatever I happen to have handy), and carefully pour directly on the offending weed. After it has died. I carefully dig out, dispose of it and fluff the grass around it. I have 6 dogs in my back yard daily. The only time it looks close to pristine is right after my gardener comes once a week. The front lawn looks much better. I keep the grass a bit longer than most due to the extreme heat in the summer, so fluffing it over works well for me.
  
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- Naomie Moore aka baileyanddaisey, Castaic CA on Apr 19, 2017
  
  Doris I think I kinda do the same as you. It gets windy here and stuff flies through the air willy nilly and keeping a perfect lawn is not in my dna. So I aerate and overseed every fall and just spot treat weeds as organically as I can because of the pets. I also have cats and a canary and a dragon. The dragon likes to crawl around on the grass and I also have an outside enclosure for the canary so everyone can enjoy some outside time and fresh air. Frankly if there was clover I would be happy enough, but the crabgrass, ugh!
  
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- Rosel Kynast on Apr 19, 2017
  
  Naomie, when do you aerate, spring or fall. I do overseed every fall but never aerate.
  
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- Naomie Moore aka baileyanddaisey, Castaic CA on Apr 19, 2017
  
  I typically do fall, but some people around here do both. I found my lawn was much better the following summer by doing so. More drought tolerent and took less water. My gardener does it for me.
  
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Janet Pizaro on Apr 18, 2017

without killing ???

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Oce5630607 on Apr 19, 2017

Please DON'T kill the early dandelions.
Why you might ask? It is one of the few early food sources for honey bees. Just look the other way so we can keep our honeybees. If they die out, we die out.

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Nancy Walker on Apr 19, 2017

Dandelions are an early food source for bees. Beneficial for birds also! Save a lot of work, let them grow and enjoy the lovely color!

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Julanne Sharrow on Apr 19, 2017

PLEASE Do NOT KILL the dandelions.......they are a MAJOR food source for the bees.......and we are losing them faster than they can reproduce. Yes, I know, it drives us all crazy to have yellow lawns, but if we want the rest of the plants and our food plants to be pollenated to survive and that includes us.....leave them be.

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Lyn9279329 on Apr 19, 2017

Use them in your morning porridge!!! Very healthy for you and, really they are a pretty flower

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13526476 on Apr 19, 2017

First, I so agree with the above responders. The early blooms from plants some consider weeds are lifesavers to our beneficials, both in spring and fall. Secondly, please never use salt (or Roundup) on your yards...It renders the earth barren. The easiest, quickest method is to use boiling water applied judiciously just to the problem plant.

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Sherry Holliday on Apr 19, 2017

Use Weed B Gone in a spray bottle, put the sprayer on "stream". Won't kill the grass if you overspray a little. Leave some dandes tho for the bees!

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Doris on Apr 19, 2017

Just read all the posts to not kill the dandelions. While I do appreciate that to protect the bees, unfortunately, if you have neighbors close by such as in a development, they don't appreciate the dandelion seeds blowing in their yards though. It can be a hard call!

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Bill on Apr 19, 2017

grandma pulled the yellow tops and made dandelion wine and used the leaves ina salad

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