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Dandelion transplanting

18 years ago

Not sure if this is the right forum or not, but here we go... I usually hang out in Garden Junk and Moon Garden, but this isn't a questions for them.. :)

I am making a garden for my daughter, filled with kid friendly flowers/plants... strawberries, pansies, nasturtiums, wildflowers, lamb's ears, etc...

my question is, how do I transplant dandelions... I know, I KNOW, they're a weed, but they're still perfect for a little girl to make a wish on.. :) I've seen some recently and want to get them while the getting's good..

should I pull them up and transplant?

is there a way to dry them out/get seeds?

any ideas would be helpful!!!

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Comments (5)

sam_md
18 years ago
Any natives with a butterfly association are a natural for children. They get the added benefit of learning something about the life cycle of butterflies. Butterfly weed or Asclepias tuberosa is still blooming and on the top of my list. Really any of the milkweeds are good. Liatris or blazing star really draws in the butterflies. I gave a talk to a 4th grade class last year on schoolyard habitat and mentioned Paw Paw. The hands went up and there were never ending questions about it. Paw Paw is larval host to Zebra swallowtail and makes edible fruit. Right now Cardinal flower is in full bloom. Hummingbirds really fight over it. This is a great way to introduce native plants to children.
Give careful thought to your plant list, it is great that you are getting your daughter interested in plants, I would urge you to steer her in the direction of natives.
Sam
ArborBluffGirl
18 years ago
I would imagine they would transplant very well, assuming you find a small specimen and get most, if not all, of the root. You could also wait until the flower goes dry and then let her blow the seeds into the new garden where you want them to grow.
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I have decided to dig it up and move it. The dandelions roots and top growth are growing up through the middle of it so there is no way to smother it or pluck it out with a weed popper. It was a mis-named item that I bought at Wal-mart many years ago and this year I am going to take a picture of the flowers to see if I can identify it. It is a vitacella and a flower machine so I do not want to lose it. I transplanted it last year to where it is now and it done awesome and I got 2 long bloom periods so I will move it again and go through the roots and pull out the dandelions. What really iritates me to no end is I spend alot of money on my yard to keep it weed free and nice and my lovely neighbors let them weeds grow and flower, and to keep them out of my yard, I litteraly have to go over into their yard and weed when they are not home. Or when they go out there with a lawn mower once a month, millions of those seeds fly everywhere. They are lazy and I am glad they are moving.
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No need to wait. The only time you should not transplant stuff is when the soil is either frozen or waterlogged, or in the hottest part of summer. If you have well draining soil you probably have the typical glacial gravelly till soil widespread in Thurston County, which is rarely waterlogged even after 26" of rain. Waiting for warmer weather may be worse than doing it now. If we get a heat wave before the plants have gotten their roots established then you could easily lose them, and it could take months before they're really established. Transplanting now will give you a chance to get a good look at the roots and see what the problem might be, if there is one. Our soil does tend to be really lean, and even though kalmias like lean soil and mahonias are native here if there's little root growth you might need to add organic matter to their new homes.
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paalexan
18 years ago
I don't think anyone tries to transplant them. But we know they'll grow from root fragments. I'd bet that even if you didn't bother keeping the leaves on, just digging up the taproots and sticking bits of them in the soil wherever you want would work pretting well. If you tranplant with the leaves still on, you'll probably get a lot of wilting unless you at least cut the leaves back a bit; I'm sure it'd still survive, but just look crappy for a little while.

FWIW, though dandelions aren't native, they can only outcompete natives in areas of low-growing vegetation. In most of the east, the only areas with low-growing vegetation are laws, so they're pretty harmless as exotics go. In the west it's a bit different, but Mississippi isn't the west so that's neither here nor there...

Patrick Alexander
Dragoness_MS
Original Author
18 years ago
thanks so much guys, for the help and advice..:) I wasn't aware that dandelions weren't native.. sorry.. :)

thanks in advance from myself and my daughter, for all the wonderful dandelions we'll see..:)
mikeLHS68
18 years ago
Leaves are good eating with a little balsamic vinegar, tho' your daughter may not think so...;)

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