The college to the west of us has fields of them... And the wind usually blows from the west, so our neighborhood is well seeded!
My solution to the problem is two-fold. I try to dig them out when they are yellow. This is really hard, as there are so many!
But this year I discovered an amazing new gardening invention - a long-handled dandelion (and thistle) puller!
I saw my young next door neighbor using one - it looked so easy! So I went out and bought one, too...
(I'm not paid to advertise, but I think that the Fisker brand is the best. One of my neighbors bought a different one and ended up returning it.)
First center the puller on the dandelion.
Step down on the pedal to get it into the soil.
Tip the digger sideways, leaning it towards the pedal - this closes the four sharp little teeth, gripping the dandelion.
It usually pulls the whole thing out at one go.
Push the orange handle downwards to open the teeth and push the dandelion off the stick.
It works like a charm!
Those dandelions that escaped my initial attack with my new digger have now gone to seed - so I usually (carefully) snap off the heads and add them to the compost pile, preferably before they open up. This whole pile is made up of dandelions I dug out. The important thing is to cover them so the seeds can't fly away!
Nobody said gardening is easy!
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