Simon Avery wrote:

"DDEckerslyke" wrote:

Hello DDEckerslyke

D Newbie gardeners. Just moved into a house where the small
D front lawn (20 - 25 sq m) is about 15 or 20 percent
D dandelions. Can anyone here either advise us what to do, or
D point us in the direction of a good site/book/resource?
D Do we dig them out? (I had a go at a big one and the root
D was approximately 2cm diameter, deeper than I could get, and
D I've left an impact crater.)Use weedkiller? (We've got three
D young kids so we're reluctant to do this. Is there
D environmentally and kid friendly weedkiller?)

Digging them out will work - a long handled weed extractor is probably
the best widget. It looks like a short tube on a stick with a slot in
it.

A 10" screwdriver is at least as good and a more generically useful tool.

That said spot weeding with a spray of broad leaf herbicide (less
environmentally friendly than glyphosate) will probably be the fastest way
of getting bulk dandelions back under control. Don't let them set seed!!!

You can also get a fat waxy crayon spot weeder in a similar vein. Keep
garden chemicals away from children.

Regards,
Martin Brown