GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Can Healthy Grass Get-Rid of Dandelions?

zxcvbob · 24-05-2010, 06:38 PM posted to rec.gardens

wrote:
I want to get-rid of dandelions from a lawn of a couple acres, and I
have been doing some reading.
There is a basic list of things to do, and one of them is to make a
healthy lawn but it is never explained whether this will get rid of
dandelions or does it only prevent them.
My questions is...can you take you dandelion filled lot and do all of
the lawn building activities (aerate, fertilize, over-seed, water,
etc) and end up getting rid of the dandelions, or is that impossible?
Do you have to go to the chemical warfare?

I spot-treat them and thistles with 2,4-d. "Weed-n-feed" fertilizers
just spread too many pounds of herbicide for me (the whole
neighborhood reeks when the ChemLawn truck comes around and sprays
half the yards) so I always have a *few* dandelions in my yard but I'm
OK with that.

I've been doing some research; triclopyr is much less toxic than
2,4-d, and it will kill resistant weeds like creeping charlie and
chickweed, so I may switch to that even though it's more expensive to
use. (it's the active ingredient in Ortho Brush-B-Gon and Garlon and
Crossbow herbicides)

Bob