Solve Your Landscaping Problems: Learn How to Get Rid of Dandelions for Good

Spotting dandelions while walking along a trail is fun, but they’re not as pretty when they’re invading your lawn. Learn how to get rid of dandelions without compromising your landscaping standards to make your grass spotless. You’ll get rid of the pervasive weeds and feel confident in your ability to keep them away from your property permanently.

What Makes Dandelions Grow in My Yard?

Dandelions spread like many other plants. Their seeds float in the wind and take root if they find favorable soil. Remember the last time you saw a fluffy white flower and blew on it to make a wish? That was a dandelion and you helped it spread its cotton-like pappuses wherever the wind took them. They may have even landed in your yard, but don’t worry. You can get rid of the flowering weed without too much work.

How to Get Rid of Dandelions

You don’t have to fight dandelions whenever you do lawn work. Make your future easier by checking out how to get rid of dandelions with a few simple ideas.

How to Kill Dandelions With Standard Weed-Control Products

Traditional weed-control products use chemicals to cut straight to each weed’s root system. You can choose from granular or liquid products, depending on your budget. Liquid products are easy to spray, while you’ll have to water any granular weed killers to activate their ingredients.

If you have kids or pets, ensure your selected products are safe to come into contact with. The instructions will point out how long to leave the product on the weeds before anyone touches it.

How to Kill Dandelions Without Chemicals

You can kill dandelions without chemicals by stopping by your local plant store. Fertilizers like corn gluten meal suppress dandelion growth while making grass grow faster. Its unique protein compounds inhibit weeds without holding your grass back from its full potential.

You could also use a splash of horticulture vinegar. It has a higher acidic rating than household vinegar, so it kills dandelion roots quickly. Save the vinegar in your pantry for getting rid of bugs or cleaning your home with eco-friendly homemade solutions.

How to Banish Dandelions Without Killing Grass

When people want to learn how to get rid of dandelions, they’re often mostly concerned about keeping their grass alive. Investing in a pressurized spray bottle for your yard could solve that problem. Use the pointed nozzle to spray your chosen weed killer directly at the base of each dandelion. It’ll take time, but you won’t spray any of the herbicide onto your grass.

Many herbicides also advertise that they keep grass safe while effectively killing weeds. Check each product’s packaging to ensure you pick one that doesn’t kill any plant it touches, like glyphosate.

Can You Prevent Dandelions From Coming Back?

Once you learn how to get rid of dandelions and find a successful method you like, you’ll want to know how to prevent them from coming back. First, try mowing your grass at a higher level. Tall grass has a robust root system that fills empty soil and keeps weeds from forming.

You might also find more lawn care success by mowing without a clippings bag. Letting grass clippings settle between the growing blades also covers any exposed dirt that might otherwise become home to a floating dandelion seed.

Enjoy a More Beautiful Lawn

Get rid of dandelions and keep them away from your lawn with ideas like these. They’re simple and effective solutions for managing any dandelion outbreak. You can always consult someone at your local plant nursery to discuss things that might work better for your specific location, like fertilizers that take your local soil’s nutrient levels into account.

FAQs

Does Mowing Dandelions Spread Them?

Mowing dandelions might spread them if they’re turning from yellow buds into fluffy white flowers. The white flowers contain the pappuses that float around and try to root wherever they land. If you’re nervous about mowing over your dandelion outbreak, apply your preferred herbicide method to render any pappuses useless before mowing.

Does Vinegar Kill Dandelions?

Vinegar kills dandelions, but not household vinegar. Household vinegar has a low acidic profile so it’s safe to eat. Horticultural vinegar is much more acidic. It contains 20% acetic acid compared to household vinegar’s 5%.

If you decide to use horticultural vinegar as your dandelion solution, it will burn through your dandelion outbreak’s root system and any plants around them. Apply the vinegar only at the base of each dandelion flower to target your application and save your grass.

What Will Kill Dandelions but Not the Grass?

Any herbicide with a weeds-only label will kill dandelions, but not your grass. They use formulas specifically designed for non-grass plants. You could even find an herbicide for dandelions. Check the packaging on products available online or in plant stores to get one that’s safe for your grass.

Is Hand-Pulling an Effective Dandelion Solution?

Hand-pulling dandelion weeds will remove them, but it’s not an effective solution. Dandelions can form tap roots up to three feet deep, so tugging them from the soil likely won’t remove all of their roots. They’ll continue growing back unless you either dig them out with a shovel or kill them with an effective herbicide treatment.

What Does It Mean if I Have a Lot of Dandelions in My Yard?

Having a lot of dandelions in your yard might mean you have numerous areas with exposed soil. Floating seeds may have easily landed in the bare spots and formed roots quickly. Your house could also be near a dandelion outbreak down your street or in your neighbor’s yard.

Sometimes, dandelions thrive in someone’s yard if the soil has too much potassium because they feed off it. Try conducting a soil test in your backyard for a definitive nutrient reading. You can always lower the potassium content in your yard with lawn care products for that specific nutrient.

Should You Let Dandelions Grow?

Some people decide to let dandelions grow for a number of reasons. They might prefer having a natural lawn where local plants thrive wherever they appear. Bees also benefit from dandelions during the spring because the weed produces the pollen and nectar they need. However, you don’t have to let dandelions grow to support the bees. Try raising native plants in a garden or flower bed to support the bee population while banishing your weeds.