Help w/order of steps to get rid of dandelions

14 years ago

OK so I have a dandelion issue. From reading it looks like I should be able to get past this. I just bought a home where the lawn is overrun by dandelions. I am going to overseed the lawn, but not sure what I should do first. This is what I am thinking let me know where I am going wrong.

1. Get some starter fertilizer and apply to give lawn and dandelions a health boost.

2. Use Weed be gone to get rid of dandelions. This might take more then one treatment and take several weeks. There are just to many to even think about pulling them by hand or by tool. Once I get them under control I can go this route.

3. Once the dandelions are under control I am going to overseed the lawn. I hope to hit this step by end of September since I live in Seattle area that gets quite a bit of rain.

If the above is right then the questions I have are:

1. When do I cut the lawn and do a go short or long?

2. When should I water?

3. How long between steps?

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Comments (7)

getfacsw
14 years ago
Not knowing the weather you have, I would skip the initial starter fertilizer, and spray. Get the weed be gone concentrate and the dial sprayer that goes on the end of the hose. I say this as it would be quicker then individual spraying. One spray and the dandelions will be gone. You should see them dying within a day.

As far as cutting, spray first then wait a couple of days then cut, that way there is more leaves to get the weed be gone on and you can see them.

Watering shouldn't matter as long as the weed be gone has time to dry on the leaves, Remember if you follow what I say you're watering anyway.

I will leave the time between steps to more experts, but if it was me, I'd wait a week since the initial spray.

Bill
bpgreen
14 years ago
If you spray the dandelions, you won't be able to seed for several weeks (it's on the bottle, but I think it's 3-4 weeks). If you overseed, you won't be able to spray the dandelions until you've cut the new grass three times.

Most people who overseed or reseed deal with weeds at a later date.

If you're seeding into an existing lawn, you'll want to mow the existing grass low first to give the new grass a chance to get partially established before the old grass needs to be mowed. If you're seeding rye, this is less of an issue since it sprouts quickly, but you should mow a little lower anyway.

Once the grass is growing, mowing it fairly high will help keep weeds at bay.
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dchall_san_antonio
14 years ago
You could use a Weed Hound tool (available at the hardware stores for about $25) and then seed immediately. The Weed Hound allows you to stand up and pluck the dandelions out. You can stomp them out as fast as you can step on them.
firstandgoal
14 years ago
>>"Once the dandelions are under control I am going to overseed the lawn. I hope to hit this step by end of September"

You should be OK to overseed at the end of September if you spray RIGHT NOW. Go get a bottle of weed b gon RTS (the kind you just hook up to your hose and spray)or the concentrate and dial sprayer, and go to town on those dandelions. It should take only one application to wipe them out.
rmerikle
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you so much for all the thoughtful advice. I wish I had a picture, but the lawn looks more like a dandelion patch then a lawn. I am guessing hundreds of them so I just don't see pulling them individually an option. After getting some type of control yes, but not now.

I think I will spray now and then take the chance of waiting and seeding later. I am very interested to see what the lawn does with just a little care. The neighbors seem to have nice healthy lawns. Who knows maybe seeding will not even be necessary, but I doubt it.
bpgreen
14 years ago
Most of the grasses that do well in Seattle will not spread to fill in bare spots, so if you have as many dandelions as you describe, you will probably need to seed.
kevingalaxy
14 years ago
Totally agree with dchall, get a weed hound! Some of my yard was over run. Then i got the weed hound, and pulled out all the dandelions from the root! Hard work but worth it. Now whenever i see one or two i just pull them out. In your case as you have so many, i would use the chemical approcach but consider the weed hound for the odd one or two that will come up next yr!

Help w/order of steps to get rid of dandelions

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getfacsw

bpgreen

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Help w/order of steps to get rid of dandelions

Comments (7)

getfacsw

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