Dandelion Neighbors

[Wolfshead]

I don’t mind the dandelions at all. Their season is a couple weeks and then, for the most part, they’re gone.
I watch and wonder about my neighbors who spread chemicals on their yards to rid them of dandelions and wonder about how much they spend, and how they increase their chances of cancer.
I also wonder how my families chances of cancer go up because of my neighbors vanity, which I have no say in.
Just makes one wonder…..

 

[kodiakisland]

How y’all feel about wild onions? I love the smell the first couple mows of the year.

 

[mtmuley]

Bout to send some dandelion seeds my neighbors way with the lawnmower. Don't like him anyway. mtmuley

 

[Irishman]

I spray my yard a couple of times a year trying to kill off dandelions. Across the road from my house is the high school with acres of tall dandelions, so the dandelion seeds blow right over to my yard. I'm not spraying this year, as I'm just wasting my time.
My wife has always said that I should leave the dandelions as they are used by bees, and they add some color to the yard.
I watched a documentary one time about how it came to be that people were lead to believe that they should have
a green, weed free lawn. Seemed like the whole green lawn idea is a bit of a scam - time consuming and expensive - fertilizer,
weed killer, watering, mowing, weedeating.

 

[mtmuley]

I spray my yard a couple of times a year trying to kill off dandelions. Across the road from my house is the high school with acres of tall dandelions, so the dandelion seeds blow right over to my yard. I'm not spraying this year, as I'm just wasting my time.
My wife has always said that I should leave the dandelions as they are used by bees, and they add some color to the yard.
I watched a documentary one time about how it came to be that people were lead to believe that they should have
a green, weed free lawn. Seemed like the whole green lawn idea is a bit of a scam - time consuming and expensive - fertilizer,
weed killer, watering, mowing, weedeating.

Yeah. Where I am a manicured weed free lawn ain't going to happen. I spray a bit but only kill the bad stuff. Knapweed is attacked aggressively. mtmuley

 

[BenP]

I spray my yard a couple of times a year trying to kill off dandelions. Across the road from my house is the high school with acres of tall dandelions, so the dandelion seeds blow right over to my yard. I'm not spraying this year, as I'm just wasting my time.
My wife has always said that I should leave the dandelions as they are used by bees, and they add some color to the yard.
I watched a documentary one time about how it came to be that people were lead to believe that they should have
a green, weed free lawn. Seemed like the whole green lawn idea is a bit of a scam - time consuming and expensive - fertilizer,
weed killer, watering, mowing, weedeating.

That's a lot of the horticulture industry. If you look up cattails you'll find that the only reason they are considered a weed is because they couldn't figure out a way to plant, harvest, and process for profit. Very nutritional and great for the ecosystem but is treated like a plague by farmers (not all farmers) because the monoculture industry told them it is a noxious weed.

And there are others, like lambs quarter, purslane, broad leaf plantain, and it goes on.

 

[Hem]

View attachment 407423
Bout to send some dandelion seeds my neighbors way with the lawnmower. Don't like him anyway. mtmuley

Looks like areas around my house.
Yeah, whatever.
That Shrapnel dandelion puller wont work where I live, ...clay central.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Knapweed is attacked aggressively. mtmuley

Knapweed is the scourge of Montana! Dandelions are a pretty tame little flower ... even edible ... compared to spotted knapweed. My personal war with knapweed continues. Last summer sprayed 180 gal of Milestone concoction on two miles of logging road infested with knapweed like a carpet in some stretches. 'Took a week, but hopefully it will require less spraying to keep it down this year.

 

[mtmuley]

Knapweed is the scourge of Montana! Dandelions are a pretty tame little flower ... even edible ... compared to spotted knapweed. My personal war with knapweed continues. Last summer sprayed 180 gal of Milestone concoction on two miles of logging road infested with knapweed like a carpet in some stretches. 'Took a week, but hopefully it will require less spraying to keep it down this year.

The Root is full of it. I live on a dirt road and most of the knapweed grows there. I dig it up before it blooms. I know Tordon works well. Kills a lot of other things too though. My big problem for a while is buckhorn plantain. Tough to deal with. mtmuley

 

[Steiny77]

I'll take dandelions -vs- spraying a bunch of poison on the yard.

 

[Darkside]

It’s too Smokey. I’m going back to the camper

Flames are too much

 

[MTGunner]

I leave the dandelions for the honey bees. Particularly in the spring. I have fought them for years. No longer. Let the bees have them. Deer like them too. MTG

 

[Bullshot]

The young greens make a great salad or salad addition, and more than once I threw on cheeseburgers when I ran out of lettuce. Great food for animals and herbivore pets, you can make wine from the flowers, and the bees make honey.

 

[Straight Arrow]

The Root is full of it. I live on a dirt road and most of the knapweed grows there. I dig it up before it blooms. I know Tordon works well. Kills a lot of other things too though. My big problem for a while is buckhorn plantain. Tough to deal with. mtmuley

Yep, there are plenty of noxious weeds across the west and sadly now in FS campgrounds due to lack of resources to mitigate weed spread.
There was no "dig it up" with the thousands and thousands of knapweed plants. (although I do dig it up near the Gallatin River on my property). Milestone works well and does not kill other plants which are desirable or tolerable.
Having worked for Cascade County Weed Control when in high school way back when, I recognized weeds early on and often remarked about how they were thick along roads near Missoula and in the Bitterroot. Then maybe about thirty years ago, knapweed made its way over the divide and into central and eastern Montana. Now it is a real problem across the entire state, with not enough folks worried about that purty purple plant. Knapweed starves out everything else and thrives on bare dirt, thus causing serious erosion problems, especially on remote logging roads like the one I treated.