Just wanted to post some thoughts on my experience using the 'Weed
Hound' tool available at Home Depot:

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.

I've also found that it isn't always best to slam the Weed Hound down
all the way and as hard as you can. When you go all the way, the ends
of the nails meet and can clip off the root rather than grab it. If
you instead push most of the way down then pull up, you can sometimes
pull more of the root up and snap it by pulling pressure rather than
simply cutting it off about an inch below the ground.

Popping the dandelion/weed out the end of the Weed Hound isn't totally
an easy thing either... I think this has to do with my wet clay dirt
too. When you pull something out of the ground you have to push the
big knob at the top to 'pop' the weed out. But if you've pulled wet
dirt up with the weed (as I often do) you need to pop that out, and it
requires a blunt punch with the palm of your hand or you can turn the
whole thing upside down and slam it into the ground. Hitting it with
your hand hundreds of time can take a toll... and turning it upside
down all the time gets old too. But maybe in drier, sandier
conditions this isn't such an issue.

In general, I don't think the Weed Hound is a working solution to huge
dandelions in wet clay soil. Maybe that's obvious, but I thought I'd
post my comments since everything else I've read about the Hound say
it works great but don't go into details about soil types, plant
sizes, etc.

Any thought? Comments?

Brian said:

In general, I don't think the Weed Hound is a working solution to huge
dandelions in wet clay soil. Maybe that's obvious, but I thought I'd
post my comments since everything else I've read about the Hound say
it works great but don't go into details about soil types, plant
sizes, etc.

I think it's very handy -- I have sandy soil. I make a pass or three each year
with the Weed Hound. I also have a standard dandelion fork mounted for
easy accessibility to my lawn mower so I can pop out the ones I miss while
I'm mowing the lawn.

A friend who has heavier soil likes it, too. However, she has a bad back and
cannot stoop over at all.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

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

I can send my tortoise over - she'll dig them up and get rid of them for
you! Dandelions are one of her favorites!


--
gloria - only the iguanas know for sure

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.

I can send my tortoise over - she'll dig them up and get rid of them for
you! Dandelions are one of her favorites!


--
gloria

She could gorge hgerself in my back yard, I have tons of them there, having
good luck with pulling them out after a good rain and getting all the roots
with it.
Colleen
zone 5 Connecticut

"Gloria Lenon" wrote in message . com...
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

I can send my tortoise over - she'll dig them up and get rid of them for
you! Dandelions are one of her favorites!

A tortoise? I read another post about someone who had trained their
dog to attack dandelions too. Maybe I need to get a tortoise or
hound, or horse or cow or goat or maybe a chimpanzee who knows how to
do it. Although with 2.75 acres about 50% covered in dandelions I
might need a whole army of creatures to get the job done! Everyone,
send your animals to my Dandelion ZOO... they'll never go hungry!

If you give up trying to get rid of the dandelions, the next best thing is
really the best revenge: Eat the leaves in salads, or cooked according to
almost any Italian escarole recipe. Hot damn! In salads, you want a sweet
dressing to balance the bitterness of the leaves. And, once the weather gets
hot, the fun's over until next spring. The leaves get way too bitter in
summer temps.

"Brian" wrote in message
A tortoise? I read another post about someone who had trained their
dog to attack dandelions too.

Chickens love them also.

Bob

To dig deeper into the roots of a dandelion, you need a tool like the
Weed Twister:
www.weedtwister.com
www.ergonica.com

Or you can harvest dem dear dandelions every year and make dandelion
tea?