I know most people hate dandelions, but the bright yellow color, contrasting against the green grass, makes for a rather colorful, spring appearance.
I’ve tried for years to keep the amount of dandelions in our yard to a minimum, all to no avail. I’ve used dandelion killers in lawn fertilizer; I’ve sprayed them; I’ve mowed them; I’ve stomped on them; I’ve tried digging them up by the roots… all those methods have been a real waste of time and money. I’ve even tried ignoring them, thinking they’ll magically disappear. They don’t. I’ve told friends who make dandelion wine, to come and harvest all they want!! They declined the invitation. If I could grow flowers like I can grow dandelions, I could quit my day job and go into the flower business.
When we lived in Madison, I tried my best to keep our small yard looking green. When you have neighbors all around you, they don’t appreciate your dandelions invading their manicured yards. Unfortunately, one neighbor whose lawn was right next to ours, didn’t do anything about their dandelions. No matter how much I tried to keep our yard looking green, it was always decorated with yellow in the spring. Every time their dandelions were in full bloom, it didn’t matter which way the wind was blowing, the little white puffs became airborne and made pinpoint landings in our yard.
I found out that dandelions have quite a history. Did you know that dandelions were introduced from Europe and have been used as a potherb and medicinal plant since Roman times? See, during all that time, nobody’s been able to destroy them so I don’t feel so bad that my attempts to eradicate them have been a failure too! They have a high vitamin and mineral content. Mature leaves are dried and used to make a mild tea. Roots can be used to make stronger tea, or dried and used for various medicinal purposes. And all this time, I’ve been digging up those roots and just throwing them away! Dandelion leaves are used in salads, and of course we’ve all heard of dandelion wine. Have any of you ever brewed or tasted the wine?
As you can see, a plant that gets such a negative reaction has a lot of positive attributes too!
Now that we live in the country, we have a much bigger yard and a lot more dandelions. At least I don’t have to worry about any next-door neighbors getting irritated because I have a dandelion that went to seed and blew into their yard. They do blow into the corn fields and hay fields, but they already have nice crops of dandelions so I don’t think a few more will bother that much.
After the strong winds that blew through here a couple nights ago, we now have a nice assortment of chopped up corn stalks on our yard. I didn’t bother to rake them up. That would have taken hours. I just chopped them into smaller pieces with the lawn mower and now they can help nurture the dandelions. It makes for a rather colorful lawn. Yellow dandelions, dull yellow dried corn stubble, and patches of green grass scattered throughout the mix. Actually our lawn is thriving with all the rain we’ve had this spring. It’s a good thing I didn’t fertilize or I’d really be in trouble. There’s no way I’m going to mow twice a week. Have you noticed how much money it takes to fill up that little two-gallon gas can these days? That’s an Uff da.
I have a John Deere riding mower now and it still takes almost an hour and a half to mow everything. I don’t think I’ll go back to the old push mower. It would take me all day, but at least I’d get a lot of exercise. I still know how to use one.
When we lived in Madison our lawn wasn’t that big. I could mow it in forty-five minutes with our power mower, but it finally gave up the ghost one day. I tried fixing it, but it was terminal, so I went shopping for a new one. When I shop, the first thing I look at is the price tag. Even the smallest ones were not that cheap! Then I spotted a push mower! You know, the type without a motor. Yes, they still make them… for people like me. I checked the price tag. Under $80, that was more like it. I told the young salesman I’d like one of those. He looked at me like I was nuts.
“Are you sure you want that one, you have to push it,” he said. “It doesn’t have a motor!”
“I know,” I said. “I used one of those long before you were born. It worked then and I imagine I can still remember how to push it!”
He looked at me like I didn’t have a brain in my head. Actually, a lot of neighbors thought I was nuts too. But I had fun pushing my motor-less mower, quietly around the yard and driving the neighbors nuts, thinking I was going to drop over from a heart attack.
Now I sit on my riding mower as I cut the grass, but we still have a wonderful crop of dandelions. Some things never change!
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