They are evil. They must be eradicated. They are a blight.
I鈥檓 talking about weeds, dandelions specifically. We鈥檝e been persuaded that a lawn dotted with dandelions is a bad thing. It鈥檚 clearly not the fashion to have a yard filled with dandelions.
But maintaining a monoculture lawn takes effort. Unless you know what you鈥檙e doing and are vigilant, it also requires chemicals.
With municipalities around the capital region restricting garden pesticide use because of health concerns, I am seeing a lot more dandelions dotting lawns, including mine. They bother me a bit, but I鈥檓 trying to accept them. The lawn-fashion police will not dictate to me, I鈥檝e timidly whispered.
Yes, part of my effort to embrace dandelions is because of laziness. But I have gone to the effort of scanning make-your-lawn-better-without-chemical websites. I鈥檝e found this consensus:
鈥� A healthy lawn will crowd out the weeds.
鈥� Go for a taller cut.
鈥� Aerate.
鈥� Dig out problem areas and put in native plants appropriate to the conditions.
鈥� Water deeply and infrequently.
Maybe I鈥檒l just let the dandelions grow. They might become all the fashion.
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My colleague Dave Bly says
The Capital Regional District website , and summarizes things .
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