What a great year we are having for dandelions!
It seems like every ditch, roadway and lawn I see on my daily commute has a sudden pop of cheerful yellow. For some, these little bursts of color are a welcome sign of spring.
However, not everyone loves these little blossoms. For some, seeing dandelions emerge is a source of displeasure and they are thinking about how to reduce weed pressures in their lawn.
As with many lawn projects, there is good news! You have options depending on your lawn weed tolerance and the level of the dandy-invasion.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to determine what steps you might be best for you based on where you fall on the dandelion love-hate spectrum.
Do dandelions not bother you very much?
You can just leave them. Dandelions are a good source of early spring food for local pollinators. Or maybe leave them for a few weeks until other plants in your landscaping and gardens are blooming in full splendor to offer other food sources for bees, butterflies, and the like. Once your other plants, trees, and shrubs are in bloom, perhaps spot-treat the dandelions.
Do you not mind many dandelions, but they are getting a little out-of-hand for your taste?
You can spot-spray them immediately. Dandelions are typically very easy to kill with spot sprays, so if you don’t have a major infestation, this would be the recommendation we would recommend. This way you can continue with your regular 4-Step program without any rearranging of steps and you can control your level of tolerance for the species.
Are the dandelions in your lawn totally out of control and you are getting stressed out?
You can apply Step 4 (our weed and feed) this spring to kill broadleaf weeds like dandelions. While fall is the best time to control weeds in Iowa, weed-and-feeds can be applied any time weeds are actively growing. Remember, Step 4 must be applied to wet grass and then you do not want rain for at least 24 hours to ensure that the product sits on the leaves long enough to be effective.
Are there cultural practices or other things I can do to minimize dandelion pressure in my lawn next year?
Yes. You may have noticed that the dandelions in your lawn like to show up along driveways, edging, or in thinner areas of your lawn. This is because dandelions are tenacious little plants that can grow in compacted soils. Be sure to schedule regular aerations of your lawn to keep soils loose, healthy, and an ideal spot for grasses to remain thick to crowd out competition. Increasing your mowing height and feeding your lawn regularly with high-quality fertilizers will also decrease dandelion pressure (See the photo below from ISU turf professor Dr. Quincy Law illustrating this point). Generally, the thicker and happier a lawn is, the less weed pressure you will experience throughout the year - so consider doing a soil sample to maximize an efficient, responsible feeding program.
Fall weed-and-feed applications (Step 4) do a good job of killing dandelions effectively, so do not skip this application if you have had a year or two of heavy pressure from weeds. Dandelions have an interesting life cycle with many of the weeds germinating in the fall, which is why applying Step 4 in October will reduce your dandelion pressure in the early spring.
What if I want to eat the dandelions in my lawn?
Believe it or not, dandelions are edible. But like any plant grown for food, we would recommend avoiding using any lawn products that have a chemical in areas where you are growing plants for consumption. (13-13-13, gypsum, and lime would all be ok to use still as plant food around gardens or consumables.) There are all kinds of recipes online for dandelion teas, salads, and even a dandelion greens pizza! And who knows, if you are supposed to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, this might be an amusing (and nutritious?) way to fight your [lawn] enemies. Information on the nutritional impact of dandelions can be found here.
