I had more dandelions in my yard this year than I have ever seen; my yard looked like a commercial dandelion farm :) My neighbor had almost none (except for whatever took root from the seeds that flew to his yard from mine last year :) ) because I'm pretty sure he sprays his yard. Selective adoption has resulted in almost all of the dandelions in my yard being the very low flowering type, which means my mower passes over without killing the plants (but if I mow right after the flowers pop up, they are tall enough, but they spring up, flower, and go to seed so fast it's pretty amazing!)
We don't use insecticide in our house either. The one exception I do have is to use the current version of Roundup (doesn't have glyphosate) to kill poison ivy in our yard because my wife is very allergic to it.
Dandelions thrive in soil that is 'dense' - they help break it apart and aerate it. I had a lot of dandelions in my yard, so I knew it needed a bit of aeriation when I first started. I hated to pull them out because I know just how beneficial they are. Their leaves contain calcium, too; it's like natural lawn maintenance! But my wife likes a nice green, manicured lawn, so unfortunately, I pull them out :(
I had more dandelions in my yard this year than I have ever seen; my yard looked like a commercial dandelion farm :) My neighbor had almost none (except for whatever took root from the seeds that flew to his yard from mine last year :) ) because I'm pretty sure he sprays his yard. Selective adoption has resulted in almost all of the dandelions in my yard being the very low flowering type, which means my mower passes over without killing the plants (but if I mow right after the flowers pop up, they are tall enough, but they spring up, flower, and go to seed so fast it's pretty amazing!)
We don't use insecticide in our house either. The one exception I do have is to use the current version of Roundup (doesn't have glyphosate) to kill poison ivy in our yard because my wife is very allergic to it.
Haven't bought any roundup in years (propane torch more fun...RRR RRR RRR) 🔥🔥🔥
Dandelions thrive in soil that is 'dense' - they help break it apart and aerate it. I had a lot of dandelions in my yard, so I knew it needed a bit of aeriation when I first started. I hated to pull them out because I know just how beneficial they are. Their leaves contain calcium, too; it's like natural lawn maintenance! But my wife likes a nice green, manicured lawn, so unfortunately, I pull them out :(
Edit to add: Check this out this is how I learned this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpEy-Mpm6AI