I must have dug a thousand dandelions today

 

I'm trying to reclaim a big flower bed that has been neglected for a
couple of years.  Rather than spray it with Roundup, I've been digging
out the weeds (mostly dandelions.)  The depressing thing is that the
ground is white with dandelion seeds, but if I cover them with mulch
maybe the earthworms will eat them.

I have found some perennials in there that I thought were gone; lilies,
liatris, evening primrose, and Echinacea (I knew there were a few
Echinacea in there.)  And the dirt looks pretty good.  Unfortunately
about half of the dandelions are breaking off about 6 to 8 inches down.
  So I'm getting *almost* all the roots out, but probably leaving enough
in there that they'll resprout.  Hopefully it takes all their energy to
send up just one or two shoots and if I keep the tops hoed down they'll
die quickly enough.  Or I can spot treat with Roundup.  But I'd rather
get it done naturally.

The johnny jump-ups are especially pretty this year.  I'm working around
them as much as possible.

Bob

 

says...

Personally, I would just put down cardboard, weighted with large
rocks or bricks, and leave it for a few weeks.


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that kills everything. hard to "reclaim" the plants you want to save
after you kill them
lee

 



Why don't you eat them? Dandelion is particularly healthful in a salad,
and is beneficial to the ground, and Johnny Jump Ups (Viola cornuta) you
can eat their young leaves and flower buds - raw or cooked, and when
added to soup they thicken it in much the same way as okra. Flowers -
can be eaten raw, and a tea can be made from the leaves
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

 

[...]

Weeding a tad late.  Oh well.  Dandelions are pretty easy to control
by weeding alone, *if* you do the weeding before they go to seed.
Mulch should thoroughly smother the seeds.



Not to worry.  Dandelions won't regrow from the tap root;  just get
the crown.  (Catsears aka false dandelions may regrow.)

    Una