"PJ" wrote in message
. com...
On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 9:42:21 +0100, Franz Heymann wrote
(in message ):

Unfortunately it would not work for me. My garden is as stony as can
be,
and the dandelion roots know how to hide below stones.
It just has to be glyphosate or paraquat.

I'm thinking of trying something like this. What is the best method for
application?

I use one of two ways:
"Murphy's Tumbleweed" (glyphosate) can be obtained as a gel-like soup,
equipped with a small brush in the bottle top. It is very handy and
economical to just dab it on as many leaves as you can conveniently reach.
The second method is to use liquid glyphosate in a very small watering can
with a fine rose. The sort which is used for watering pot plants. The
model I use is a Hawes type, made of green plastic. It holds just over one
litre, and is available at garden centres. It is somewhat less precise than
the gel, but is quicker in use.
Remember glyphosate is fairly slow acting (around a week), but when it
kills, it kills dead. Leave the dead weed in situ until it is utterly
dessicated before removing it. In fact, I often don't bother removing the
dead weeds at all. Mother nature manages it quite conveniently, if slowly.



I only have a handful of weeds and if I apply the killer to just
the plant then I will have used very little.

If you have only a few isolated weeds to cope with, the "paint-on" method is
best.

I think if I start trying to dig
them out it will break the root because this handful of weeds have been
there
for some months as I wasn't sure how to remove them without digging holes
in
the lawn.

All I have been doing with them is pulling the leaves off them
which grow back very quickly indeed.

Don't try. You simply cannot eradicate dandelions from a cultivated spot by
digging away at them or pulling at the leaves. Some piece of root *always*
stays behind and regrows.

Franz