Dandelion invasion

[Alakazam7]

I have a lawn in my back garden which is covered in dandelions. The lawn weed killers I have looked at are all unsafe as I have a 6 month old kitten. What can I use to get rid of them once and for all?

In the first instance pick the flowers off before they seed, then hand weeding, I'm afraid.

Thank you, I'll be doing a lot of weeding this week then

You have to cut the root out with a knife. I used a steak knife and cut down in a square then lifted it out with a column of soil.

Thanks- do you then need to replace turf? How do you keep them away?
Think it's going to be a bigger task than I thought!

You can't keep weeds away , dandelion seeds are blown in the wind. You have to keep weeding .

Sorry

Look at a horihori - they are brilliant tools for getting at deep-rooted weeds like Dandelions. You want to get the whole tap root out, not just pull off the leaves.

On the upside, you can actually eat the leaves and the roots (the big whoppers are actually quite tasty).

You can then reseed the lawn over the bare patches.

Regular mowing does help to get rid of weeds from lawns - aim for at least once a week (she says, looking at her lawn which hasn't been mown for 14 days)

Monty Don grew grass seed in plant plugs, a couple of Gardeners Worlds ago. Ideal for replacing grass in little holes.

there is grass feed that is safe for pets. if the grass is strong weeds have less chance to grow.
otherwise: as long as it's soft and green it can stay in my lawn.

That Monty Don grass plug thing looked amazing, and I am doing it now. To fill in the gaps where I hoick out dandelions and buttercups. They pull out much easier when the ground is wet, so that is one positive from all this rain.