What is dandelion?
Dandelion ( Taraxacum officinalis) is a persistent, perennial weed of lawns and borders.
Appearance
Dandelion has a rosette of basal leaves sprouting from a stout tap root and exudes a milky latex when damaged. The leaves are soft, mid-to-dark green lobed or unlobed with a midrib sometimes pink especially near the base.
They can flower most of Spring and Summer but are predominantly seen from April onwards, usually around St. Georges Day.
They spread by the hundreds of seed heads that will get blown around and land in your lawn. Although they will die back in Winter their tap root will survive to surface again in Spring.
The weed is hard to control by hand weeding as they have a long tap root which goes deep in to the soil and will regrow if it isn’t all removed. You can cover the flower heads with a plastic bag that will prevent all the seeds dispersing and once flowered it will die back. This is very laborious and time consuming, especially if there are hundreds on your lawn.
Selective weedkillers are the best solution as they can be sprayed on your lawn without affecting the grass and will kill the dandelion within a few weeks. These are applied by Cheshire Lawn Doctor via a knapsack and are professional grade weedkillers, far better than DIY products.