Hard to have a nice yard, when neighbors have a Dandelion Nursery!

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harrisonm

harrisonm

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Keeping my yard weed free (Picture 1) is a constant battle when you see the Dandelion Factory across the street (and upwind unfortunately). Look carefully at pictures 2 and 3. The guy is not totally an a**hole, but his property looks so bad in a very nice neighborhood that nobody really cares much for him. He waits until his grass is about 6 or 8 inches tall, and then he scalps it. The driveway and street are COVERED with grass, and he of course does not bother cleaning any of that. Great neighbor.
yard1.jpg
yard2.jpg
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Yup, I'm definitely a #2
I'll mow my grass and keep up with dead trees, but that's it for me
 
Gasoline ….
Write words with it…..
Be creative….
 
Bees need the flowers.
When all the flowers are gone, so will be the bees.
I keep my front yard clear of weeds, but the back yard, not so much.
 
A ‘good’ pre-emergent herbicide could help immensely on a dandelion problem. I don’t have a real problem now but I did years ago. Treated with a pre-emergent and had only a couple dandelions show up by fall.
Yote
 
harrisonm said:
Keeping my yard weed free (Picture 1) is a constant battle when you see the Dandelion Factory across the street (and upwind unfortunately). Look carefully at pictures 2 and 3. The guy is not totally an a**hole, but his property looks so bad in a very nice neighborhood that nobody really cares much for him. He waits until his grass is about 6 or 8 inches tall, and then he scalps it. The driveway and street are COVERED with grass, and he of course does not bother cleaning any of that. Great neighbor.
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You have a beautiful home and grounds in which is obvious you take a lot of pride in
I keep my home in similar condition, I spend a good amount of money on landscaping and flowers every year
Tulips are up and I just started with the annuals
Some people like your neighbour aren't into keeping the grounds of their home looking nice, you would think seeing everyones yard look so proper that they would take a little interest.
I will say I wish I had a garage and driveway like your neighbour
Going out in about ten minutes as I have a few large potted plants leading up to the front steps and replacing them.
Tried this new fertiliser and got to heavy handed and burnt the flowers. There not dead but are looking sad. Im diverting them to the back yard and will try and save them
 
I lived in the city for years and it was a PITA to keep the front grass nice for the neighbourhood. Now that I am at the lake, I cut what grows and keep it tidy, but that's it. My old neighbour that spent 4 hours a day on his lawn used to rag me out. LOL.....My wife makes me leave a kidney shaped section of wildflowers on the lawn, that doesn't get cut, for god's creatures.
 
Those dandelions are really a tuff weed.

They say spraying the 2-4-D type weed herbicide in the Fall does the most good on knocking them back, but nobody does that and they wait til the Spring when it is less effective.

I can tell you all about the neighbors with the solid yellow yards. Guess where all the seeds blow when they turn white ready to drift in the wind.

Almost need 2-4-D applications every 2 months to keep ahead of them.

That is what Evergreen Lawns does, monthly contracts. Spray fertilizer and weed control on each application. Gets to be a lot of chemicals they put down.

Wish there was an easier way, the yards look so nice when they are green.

Have done the manual chore of lopping off the yellow heads off on a daily basis. Helps keep ahead of them but they keep coming back. It's non stop.

And if you mow them short then the Sunlight gets to their leaves and they grow even faster. Crazy tuff weeds.
 
Just run your weed killer over on his yard a bit. Your nice lawn makes his look like crap. Good for you. People plant flowers for the bees and butterflies. Dandelions aren't noxious weeds but they are nasty. With 150-200 seeds per flower it doesn't take many to spread fast. They are biannual so what sprouts this year blooms next year.

Dandelions are NOT an ideal food for bees
Dandelions lack vital amino acids and nutrients that bees need. They simply are not a quality food source for bees. Pollen from trees like willow, maple, and fruit trees is a much higher quality nutrient source.
 
I've tried to seed, water, pull those low spreading red octopus looking plants, and even weed and feed. Nothing works to grow grass out there short of sod cutting the crap out there down 2 inches and tossing it, laying 10 foot sprinkler runs and laying marathon sod. I'm not ready for that hassle yet. I'll keep mowing 2x a week. I don't have any dandelions but have loads of foxtails and stinging nettle close to the building. Bad stuff.
 
My wife wants crushed granite with borders and cactus and other drought resistant plants. I'm all for that if it doesn't need piped in water.
 
pishta said:
I've tried to seed, water, pull those low spreading red octopus looking plants, and even weed and feed. Nothing works to grow grass out there short of sod cutting the crap out there down 2 inches and tossing it, laying 10 foot sprinkler runs and laying marathon sod. I'm not ready for that hassle yet. I'll keep mowing 2x a week. I don't have any dandelions but have loads of foxtails and stinging nettle close to the building. Bad stuff.
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Red octopus looking? Wish you had a photo. I bet they need a systemic herbicide like "Halts" which is Scott's name for theirs. Get a small bag of Spectracide. It needs to go down before the plants start to grow.
 
Imagine a sea spider but it's a weed. It grows about 1/2 inch up then makes a 90 and then grows out in every direction. It'll get about 36" in diameter and you just get a shovel under it and find its center, then you pop it up ( maybe 6" single root) and throw it away. The other spreading plant like this one has a red rubbery flower like a succulent and is the same growth pattern, find the center and pop it out. Kinda like a red/purple rhubarb branch.
 
I don't use herbicides or pesticides. Live in country, do what you like, bother nobody Pittsburgh racer has the right idea by enjoying variety.

2nd pic - needs cal-mag. Mix it with water and no other fertilizers until they green up, then hit em with amonium based nitrogen.
 
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Steve welder said:
You have a beautiful home and grounds in which is obvious you take a lot of pride in
I keep my home in similar condition, I spend a good amount of money on landscaping and flowers every year
Tulips are up and I just started with the annuals
Some people like your neighbour aren't into keeping the grounds of their home looking nice, you would think seeing everyones yard look so proper that they would take a little interest.
I will say I wish I had a garage and driveway like your neighbour
Going out in about ten minutes as I have a few large potted plants leading up to the front steps and replacing them.
Tried this new fertiliser and got to heavy handed and burnt the flowers. There not dead but are looking sad. Im diverting them to the back yard and will try and save them
Click to expand...

George Jets said:
Those dandelions are really a tuff weed.

They say spraying the 2-4-D type weed herbicide in the Fall does the most good on knocking them back, but nobody does that and they wait til the Spring when it is less effective.

I can tell you all about the neighbors with the solid yellow yards. Guess where all the seeds blow when they turn white ready to drift in the wind.

Almost need 2-4-D applications every 2 months to keep ahead of them.

That is what Evergreen Lawns does, monthly contracts. Spray fertilizer and weed control on each application. Gets to be a lot of chemicals they put down.

Wish there was an easier way, the yards look so nice when they are green.

Have done the manual chore of lopping off the yellow heads off on a daily basis. Helps keep ahead of them but they keep coming back. It's non stop.

And if you mow them short then the Sunlight gets to their leaves and they grow even faster. Crazy tuff weeds.
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I have used a lot of weed killers over the years. Ortho Weed B Gone works OK on dandelions, but not very well on most other weeds. I started using a new one last year that works GREAT; Round Up Lawn Weed Killer. Do NOT use the regular Round Up; it kills everything. Get the stuff that says, "Kills the weeds, not the lawn." It does a great job on hard to kill weeds like crabgrass, spurge and clover. It is better than the FertaLome (sp?) brand they sell in nurseries for $40 a quart. In the spring, I fertilize with a good fertilizer with a crabgrass pre-emergent in it. Then I fill my pump up spray tank with 4 ounces per gallon of the Round Up for lawns and walk my yard slowly. I spray every single weed. About 3 or four days later, I do it again. As I walk, I pinch off the yellow heads (and bulbs that will turn into a yellow head) and put them in a small bag hanging on my belt. after a few weeks, all weeds are gone. Then I fertilize with the same fertilizer with a crabgrass pre-emergent throughout the summer. Otherwise, crabgrass can really get its foot in the door in the fall. No matter what they say, the barrier the pre-emergent lays down does not last all summer.
 
Use the Scott's program and be done with the dandies.
$100 or so a year for the 4 application program.
 
i guess if it bothers ya so much you can always go over and take care of his lawn to your standards and you wont have to worry about it anymore.
 
abodyjoe said:
i guess if it bothers ya so much you can always go over and take care of his lawn to your standards and you wont have to worry about it anymore.
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I did this exact same thing, sent my boys over to mow the neighbors yard. Found out he had too many medical conditions to get out.
 
fishmens67 said:
Use the Scott's program and be done with the dandies.
$100 or so a year for the 4 application program.
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Tried it. You will get rid of dandelions, but the Scotts Program does not touch Crabgrass, clover, nut grass, spurge, and a lot of other common weeds. Plus, their crabgrass preventer does not lay down a barrier that lasts all season. I am not a Scotts fan.
 
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