On 20 May 2003 07:30:59 -0700, (Brian)
wrote:

The tool is fairly fast, but in my experience has done a worse job of
getting roots than just using a regular spade. I am inclined to think
that this has to do with my soil type and the size of the dandelions.
This tool probably works better in drier, sandier conditions, while my
lawn has a heavy wet clay content. Also, the dandelions I need to get
rid of have been growing untamed for upwards of 3 years, so they are
mostly multi-sprout jungles looking like a pile of greenish-purple
worms coming from a central node. The Weed Hound just can't pull
these monster dandelions up - it instead tears them apart into messy
chunks. It did seem to work a little better on smaller dandelions
(one sprouters or beginning spawns). I only got two plants up with
roots intact and they were both fairly small ones.

Dandelions will sprout from the smallest root fragments. If you're not
devoted to exclusively "organic" controls, spray- or foam-applied
broadleaf weed killers on individual plants are very effective. If you
can't stand anything chemical, you will probably have to get down
with a small digging tool and try to prise as much of the root out as
possible. Removal, of course, is easier after rain has loosened up the
soil somewhat.