Don't kill dandelions

[Luddly Neddite]

If it were just the dandelions, I'd dig them out.

It's not, and I'd rather not burn off the entire yard to get rid of all the problems and start over.

Which, of course, wouldn't work anyway, because the neighbor planted something decorative in his flower garden, and it's slowly taking over both our yards.

So I spray

IOW, you're lazy.

K.



.

 

[Vastator]

Without bees, there would be no food unless you are just a straight meat eater.
I used to pull the dandelions from my lawn until I learned what Luddly just posted some years back. A bunch used to grow near the backyard willow tree and I always left them alone. They are pretty if in a group.

That's not true. Many other species, and the evironment itself contribute to the pollination process. Not bees alone.

 

[Hossfly]

Without bees, there would be no food unless you are just a straight meat eater.
I used to pull the dandelions from my lawn until I learned what Luddly just posted some years back. A bunch used to grow near the backyard willow tree and I always left them alone. They are pretty if in a group.

That's not true. Many other species, and the evironment itself contribute to the pollination process. Not need alone.

Interesting scientific take on bees and other pollinators

If bees became extinct, what effect would this have on mankind? | Science Focus

 

[skye]

I love bees.

That's all I will say.

 

[RodISHI]

Dandelions are great. They have excellent nutritional value along with the fact that both the greens and the roots can help cleanse the Liver. Never spray them if you know how good they are.

The seeds were brought over by Pilgrims.

 

[Hossfly]

Dandelions are great. They have excellent nutritional value along with the fact that both the greens and the roots can help cleanse the Liver. Never spray them if you know how good they are.

The seeds were brought over by Pilgrims.

 

[Gracie]

Without bees, there would be no food unless you are just a straight meat eater.
I used to pull the dandelions from my lawn until I learned what Luddly just posted some years back. A bunch used to grow near the backyard willow tree and I always left them alone. They are pretty if in a group.

That's not true. Many other species, and the evironment itself contribute to the pollination process. Not bees alone.

Bees are part of that process. So are bumble bees.
Y'all can kill them if you want, but wherever I live..they are most welcome.

 

[Gracie]

Sep 9, 2016 - In order to legally exterminate bees, there needs to be a swarm or hive that can be removed or eliminated. ... If bees are simply doing what they do (foraging and scouting) and there is no hive or swarm, it is illegal for a pest control company to spray them.

(California)

 

[RodISHI]

Dandelions are great. They have excellent nutritional value along with the fact that both the greens and the roots can help cleanse the Liver. Never spray them if you know how good they are.

The seeds were brought over by Pilgrims.

They planned ahead

 

[skye]

as a child I loved to play with dandelions.....loved

 

[Bad Bob]

Dandelions are great. They have excellent nutritional value along with the fact that both the greens and the roots can help cleanse the Liver. Never spray them if you know how good they are.

The seeds were brought over by Pilgrims.

I'll let them flower before mowing down. I made a big batch of dandelion wine two springs ago. Not bad, but my technique needs work.


Top Ten Bee-Friendly Tips: #2-Tolerate Dandelions and Other Useful "Weeds"
Three Reasons to Love Dandelions:

1. Dandelions are an important first source of nectar for bees and other beneficial insects. Their blooms act as a bridge to survival for bees and other bugs that have managed to make it through winter until more plentiful blooms of spring appear.

2. Dandelions' stubborn and seemingly endless taproots help to break up soil and actually draw vitamins and nutrients closer to the soil surface.

3. As long as they haven’t been sprayed with herbicide they are one of many foragers' favorite early herbs. Added to salads and stir-fries they impart a bright and bitter flavor. Then of course there’s dandelion wine. I ate them on ravioli at a local food-centric café last year and they were delicious.

 

[RodISHI]

Dandelions are great. They have excellent nutritional value along with the fact that both the greens and the roots can help cleanse the Liver. Never spray them if you know how good they are.

The seeds were brought over by Pilgrims.

I'll let them flower before mowing down. I made a big batch of dandelion wine two springs ago. Not bad, but my technique needs work.


Top Ten Bee-Friendly Tips: #2-Tolerate Dandelions and Other Useful "Weeds"
Three Reasons to Love Dandelions:

1. Dandelions are an important first source of nectar for bees and other beneficial insects. Their blooms act as a bridge to survival for bees and other bugs that have managed to make it through winter until more plentiful blooms of spring appear.

2. Dandelions' stubborn and seemingly endless taproots help to break up soil and actually draw vitamins and nutrients closer to the soil surface.

3. As long as they haven’t been sprayed with herbicide they are one of many foragers' favorite early herbs. Added to salads and stir-fries they impart a bright and bitter flavor. Then of course there’s dandelion wine. I ate them on ravioli at a local food-centric café last year and they were delicious.

Use a few Willow leaves and a couple of plain ole Vitamin C in ur wine batch when you start it, that may help.

 

[Hossfly]

Dandelions are great. They have excellent nutritional value along with the fact that both the greens and the roots can help cleanse the Liver. Never spray them if you know how good they are.

The seeds were brought over by Pilgrims.

I'll let them flower before mowing down. I made a big batch of dandelion wine two springs ago. Not bad, but my technique needs work.


Top Ten Bee-Friendly Tips: #2-Tolerate Dandelions and Other Useful "Weeds"
Three Reasons to Love Dandelions:

1. Dandelions are an important first source of nectar for bees and other beneficial insects. Their blooms act as a bridge to survival for bees and other bugs that have managed to make it through winter until more plentiful blooms of spring appear.

2. Dandelions' stubborn and seemingly endless taproots help to break up soil and actually draw vitamins and nutrients closer to the soil surface.

3. As long as they haven’t been sprayed with herbicide they are one of many foragers' favorite early herbs. Added to salads and stir-fries they impart a bright and bitter flavor. Then of course there’s dandelion wine. I ate them on ravioli at a local food-centric café last year and they were delicious.

Use a few Willow leaves and a couple of plain ole Vitamin C in ur wine batch when you start it, that may help.

My granny used to blanch the stems to remove the bitterness when making wine.

 

[RodISHI]

Dandelions are great. They have excellent nutritional value along with the fact that both the greens and the roots can help cleanse the Liver. Never spray them if you know how good they are.

The seeds were brought over by Pilgrims.

I'll let them flower before mowing down. I made a big batch of dandelion wine two springs ago. Not bad, but my technique needs work.


Top Ten Bee-Friendly Tips: #2-Tolerate Dandelions and Other Useful "Weeds"
Three Reasons to Love Dandelions:

1. Dandelions are an important first source of nectar for bees and other beneficial insects. Their blooms act as a bridge to survival for bees and other bugs that have managed to make it through winter until more plentiful blooms of spring appear.

2. Dandelions' stubborn and seemingly endless taproots help to break up soil and actually draw vitamins and nutrients closer to the soil surface.

3. As long as they haven’t been sprayed with herbicide they are one of many foragers' favorite early herbs. Added to salads and stir-fries they impart a bright and bitter flavor. Then of course there’s dandelion wine. I ate them on ravioli at a local food-centric café last year and they were delicious.

Use a few Willow leaves and a couple of plain ole Vitamin C in ur wine batch when you start it, that may help.

My granny used to blanch the stems to remove the bitterness when making wine.

Haven't used Dandelions for wine they make too good of food. Made wine out of lots of other stuff.

 

[BoSoxGal]

If dandelions were hard to grow, they would be prized. My grandmother always said that. They ARE sunny & cheerful, and fun to play with in seed mode - even when you grow up! My niece and I compete to see who can blow them furthest.

We have a very large yard bordering woods and a drainage that fills up in spring and brings tons of songbirds, ducks, etc. Lots of flowering bushes and trees - the folks who built and landscaped the place were gardeners, my cousins aren't (except for some porch pot plantings to make their leisure area pretty) so all the landscaping has pretty much gone wild over 20 years.

The spring/summer/fall night is filled with the song of peepers and crickets, and insect life of all variety abounds. Our yard is not the best to walk barefoot on, because it is watered only by the rainfall and overrun with nature's bounty - a native mix of weeds and grasses, hardly any left of the manicured lawn here when my cousins moved in 20 years ago. My cousin's husband mows every other week to keep our tick exposure down, but there is no poison sprayed here and dandelions abound intermixed with dozens of other wildflowers. Consequently we have hoards of songbirds on the property constantly because food abounds even when we forget to fill our feeder. We also have hawks circling overhead all summer, looking to take out a songbird or two. And in the early mornings and late evenings the deer come onto the not-a-lawn to help us keep the 'weeds' down.

There is nothing more abhorrent to nature than a modern lawn. In the old days folks planted clover lawns - it is drought resistant, doesn't need mowing because growth height is limited, and it fixes nitrogen so doesn't need fertilizing. A cloverlawn also provides a beneficial environment for an abundance of insects which provides food for an abundance of birds. And when clover flowers, it is a heaven for bees.

A modern lawn, fertilized and 'weed' sprayed, is a poisonous monoscape that feeds nothing but the chemical industry and which wastes water on a grand scale.

Don't get me started on RoundUp.

 

[Auld Phart]

Sep 9, 2016 - In order to legally exterminate bees, there needs to be a swarm or hive that can be removed or eliminated. ... If bees are simply doing what they do (foraging and scouting) and there is no hive or swarm, it is illegal for a pest control company to spray them.

(California)

(California)

says it all

 

[Skull Pilot]

I don't want weeds on my lawn.

I plant a lot of flowering plants that attract pollinators so don't get on my case about killing dandelions

 

[yiostheoy]

As you already know, bees are dependent on dandelions as a first food. I just took this photo. And, really good news is that wild bees moved in to our hive.
View attachment 117207


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You better hope they are not killer bees from Africa or South America.

Killer bees have been spreading in the Southwest USA here since they escaped their confines in Brazil.

They produce very little honey and they are very aggressive -- just like their primate equivalents called Negroes.

Africanized bee - Wikipedia

Negro - Wikipedia

 

[OldLady]

Without bees, there would be no food unless you are just a straight meat eater.
I used to pull the dandelions from my lawn until I learned what Luddly just posted some years back. A bunch used to grow near the backyard willow tree and I always left them alone. They are pretty if in a group.

Thanks Gracie.

Even "straight meat eaters" are dependent on some of the plants that bees pollinate.

There are other pollinators but damn, why would we want to give up honey bees? And bees are better at it.

I've read that there are traveling bee keepers. They truck their bee hives from farm to farm, unload, let the bees do their thing for a while and then move on. Interesting but I remember very well that, when I was a kid, there were always blooming wild flowers covered with honey bees. Its a sad loss, very dangerous for future generations and I'll do whatever I can to put it off.

Here we have miles and miles of wild blueberries growing on 'barrens.' In May when the bushes are blooming, they truck in hives of bees to pollinate them. It is a very worrisome problem; some people say the moving the bees about, from state to state and to drastically different environments, is what is killing them off.
But the bees, en masse, can be something of a nuisance. I have to put up the windows while driving by a barren while the hives are there. They frequently put them near the road so they will pollinate berries on both sides of the road. So it is like driving through a locust swarm, bee guts all over the windshield. And my favorite old spot on the barrens, where a farmstead once stood, still has a hedge of lilacs and a bunch of daylillies near the old cellar hole. The lilacs are covered with bees, though, during their bloom time, so no snitching a few to take home and put in Grandma's milk pitcher.

 

[Dekster]

As you already know, bees are dependent on dandelions as a first food. I just took this photo. And, really good news is that wild bees moved in to our hive.
View attachment 117207


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So let me get this straight, in order to get rid of dandelions all I have to do is kill bees?

Deal!

No, to get rid of the bees, kill the dandelions.

Now I am confused more than ever.


How about I just kill both?

People who breakfast at Starbucks and/or drive a prius like dandelions in their salads. They make it a more foo foo dish.