Cure for a scruffy, dandelion filled lawn?

[DorisShutt]

Our grass, well, mainly moss is now infected with dandelions and buttercups thanks to the council's bit of land that borders our garden.

Moss (and buttercups to an extent) I can live with, but the dandelions keep sprouting up and making the garden look unkempt even just after cutting it; and of course they shed and infect other bits of the lawn.

What can I use to rid myself of these pests?

I'd like it to be:

• toddler friendly - he wouldn't be playing on it just after spraying/sprinkling but it is well used at the moment so ideally something that I could apply one evening and he could play on the next day.
• animal friendly is also a must - neighbours have a lovely dog is hate to damage.
• finally (as if all the above wasn't enough) if it could not damage the existing grass/moss so I don't have to reseed, that would be wonderful.

Over to you wise gardeners! TIA

Allergies

Looking for a more chemical and hopefully speedy method (before my lovely neighbours start looking askance at us!).

Any of those sprinkle on feed-and-weed jobs will do - I'd sprinkle on when dc is in bed then water it in. Just read the instructions. You will need to do this a few times over the year but it will make a big difference. Make sure it's not a moss killing one obviously. If you have moss and buttercups your lawn is probably damp and a bit shady and the grass won't like that.

Try a company called "Green Thumb" our lawn looks great since they have been treating it.

You can pop a pinch of salt into the centre of a dandelion's rosette and that will kill it. Don't sprinkle it about anywhere else though.

The moss needs raking out. If you just put down feed and weed you'll end up with black patches all over. The best tool for this is a plastic spring tined rake as the metal spring tined sorts tend to rip out everything as they go.

It will keep on coming up and you'll need to do it a few times. You'll be left with a patchy sad looking affair. Then get seeding - pop some lawn seed down just before rain is due (shouldn't be long now!) and keep your toddler off it for a few weeks if you can.

Might do the killing before holiday then.

CuttedUpPear if I take out the moss I have NO lawn left . Tbh, for two pins I'd lift all the front and pave it with nice bushes so we could actually park on it, but that would be ££££'s so killing dandelions is the best I can do!