Tall Dandelions
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I decided when we moved to Missouri a few years ago to give up on the battle with dandelions along with the overall goal to make my yard contain less turf.
I’m not sure what has made for the overall explosion of dandelions in the yard this year. Maybe it is the moles that arrived and made tunnels under much of the backyard last summer or the leaves that were left on the yard all winter. Both probably acted to improve the soil with aeration and turning over of nutrients. The backyard was not mowed until there were 7 consecutive days with the minimum temperature of 50 degrees…which meant that the grass got very thick and a little high by the last days of April when it was mowed. It would have been an excellent yard for an Easter egg hunt!
Not only are there more dandelions this year…..they seem to be extra tall. Mowing doesn’t always cut the seed stalks either! They pop back up after the lawn mower has been put away.
I looked more closely at some of the ones I cut manually and discovered that they are hollow like a straw! They evidently bend very easily….evading the lawn mower blades!
I looked more closely at some of the ones I cut manually and discovered that they are hollow like a straw! They evidently bend very easily….evading the lawn mower blades!
