Changing the way we see Dandelions

As a child, I spent my springs playing little league baseball.  Outside of chewing bubble gum, swallowing sunflower seeds and putting my rally cap on, I wasn't exceptionally good.  I spent a lot of time in left field.  For those of you who have never seen a little league baseball game, I can tell you there is very little action in the outfield.  Any kid past shortstop is going to get bored.

I, however, was never bored in the outfield.  I had tens, if not hundreds of bright yellow friends to keep me company.  During the long innings of our team’s terrible pitchers walking runner after runner, I was in a fantastical world, picking yellow flowers, flicking the heads off like rockets, launching them at the bees who were busy using them as a food source to get back in the groove after a long cold winter.  Would the occasional Allstar launch one long over my head, or - more likely - past my distracted feet?  Absolutely.  Would Coach get mad and start yelling at me to go get the ball?  Every time. 

To me, it didn’t matter.  I was never going to play in the MLB.  I eventually gave up my bat and glove for distance running.  Different sport, same dandelions.  We would lay on the infield of the track in between races among a beautiful blanket of yellow flowers.  They caused us no harm and never once did I hear anyone complain about their presence.

Fast forward to today where I still go for runs around town every morning.  I use it as a way to clear my head and get ready for long busy days of work.  For those of you who also run, you know it’s as much therapy as it is exercise.  My mind is at ease as my view drifts from the Bridgers to all the diverse blooms of springtime flowers.  That is, until I run by certain HOAs and private homeowners who have decided to blanket their lawns in clouds of chemical herbicides sprays.  Choking on toxins as it stings my eyes, it rips me from my meditation into a present moment that makes no sense.

I am not against pesticides in general.  Growing up on a ranch in Emigrant, MT, I have seen first hand what happens when certain noxious weeds spread uncontrolled.  Integrating chemical sprays into a well thought out and executed ranch management plan is sometimes a necessary evil, but only when all other proactive management strategies have been put in place and the chemical spraying tool is used in a way that limits its future need.  Certain noxious weeds can be harmful to livestock or substantially hurt farm and ranch incomes while simultaneously causing damage to the native flora or crops.  The cost of poison has been weighed and there is a plan to use it judiciously.  Children’s playing fields, boulevards along Kagy and your own personal backyard are very different operations and - despite how they’re portrayed - dandelions are not noxious weeds.

The number one call we get in the spring starts with a stranger asking me to come spray and kill their dandelions.  The answer is no.  We are not here to kill things.  We don’t hate the dandelions, heck, we laud them for feeding the bees and entertaining little league outfielders.  That said, our culture has made that harder for me and everyone.  When I see a dandelion in my yard, I stop and pull it out.  Not because I don’t like them, but because my landlord doesn’t like them and I don’t want my neighbors calling to complain.

For any of these dandelion-killing callers, I go through a series of questions to get to the bottom of how this particular caller has been managing their lawn.  Have they been managing for what they want or have they been narrowly focused on what they don't want?  Have they been watering deeply and infrequently?  Do they know what their sprinkler coverage and output looks like?  Have they been mowing tall?  Do they trim their edges too short? Have they gotten an aeration recently?  Did they cut corners when installing the lawn?  Do they have patches of bare ground with no plan for how to fix them?

Often, they have no idea how to respond to any of my questions.  They ignorantly hate the dandelions and want them dead without having to think about how their poor management might be the cause of the dandelion’s proliferation.  A holistic, life-based approach to lawn care requires good management.  Good management requires knowing the answers to those questions before you make a round of calls asking folks to come kill your dandelions, clover or even thistle.  Being proactive has always been a better way to solve problems, but as humans, we prefer to react.  There is no such thing as a monoculture in nature, and yet we try our hardest to create one in our yards. It’s no wonder they aren’t resilient. 

There’s a better way to be a lawn owner: Don’t judge  the quality of your by the number of yellow flowers.  Instead, think about what you want.  You want lush thick turf with deep strong roots systems growing in soil teeming with life that has good soil aggregates, lots of soil organic matter, ample water holding capacity, less compaction, and rapid water infiltration.  If you manage for these, you will have fewer dandelions and you can learn to love the few that will inevitably come each spring (remember: nature hates a monoculture). Pick them and add them to your salads!  They are far more nutritious than plain old lettuce.  

When you see dandelions, think of the bees, the children who delight in picking them, the fact that they’re a readily available healthy food source, and the opportunity to slowly strengthen your turf and diminish their numbers if that makes you happy. They are not a scourge on the earth, but a naturally occurring part of a chemical-free environment.  Look out your front window with love for all forms of diversity and don’t let the need for uniformity and control make you act in hate.  There has never been a better time for that in the neighborhood.

P.S. We know that some folks struggle with more than just a few dandelions. Maybe you just moved to a new place and the lawn is completely overrun and in need of some serious help. Give us a call and we’ll work with you to put together a plan to get you on track.  If you can’t change the way you see dandelions, you may need to adopt a hybrid system.