Make a whole lot of dandelion wine! J/k, who knows if any pesticides were ever used on that lawn. I've always used the weedhound manual puller but in this case that sounds like a waste of time. Might be nice to have once the numbers are low but for now you need to kill off mass quantities.

I'm a bit confused by you saying you can't use RU because of adjoining yards? If your daughter knows her property boundaries (a good idea to get done regardless of current/future plans) there is no reason she couldn't spray up to 6" from the line. That would for sure take care of dandelions, and any other weeds hidden below the dandelions.

I've had good luck with Weed B Gone Max but was never targeting the dandelions (as I mentioned I manually pull them). I would trade every weed in my yard for a dandelion if I could because they are so easy to control compared to other weeds (as long as you get them before the head goes to seed and as long as you use a proper remover that gets the tap root). This year I think I've seen 1-2 total in my yard (similar size to your daughter's).

So from order of best to worst I'd recommend:

-RoundUp the whole yard and start fresh with a good quality seed, a light coating of compost over the seed (1/8-1/4"), and a proper starter fertilizer that contains a safe pre-M control such as Siduron (found in Scott's Step 1 for example).

-Use a hand-held 2 gallon sprayer with a weed killer concentrate (very cheap) such as WBG Max. (again I still think RU is the MUCH better idea).

-Enjoy the new home for the spring/summer and do nothing while other projects get done. Or keep the lawn cut short to at least remove the visible signs of dandelion flowers. Then in early fall hose the lawn with RU and start over.

But you want to get on this ASAP before the weather gets too hot. You are racing against time and now is the time to sprint. (Just make sure you give the proper time between RU and seeding). Oh and your daughter will make some great neighbors since if as you said everyone but her property looks great, they probably hated the previous owner's weed factory. :)

HTH

Really good response, thank you so much. I think you're right about the RU due to it killing the dandelion to the end of it's tap root. I've read that treating in the spring with RU will kill the above ground parts of the plant, but a fall application is when the RU actually is pulled into the root. Do you know?

The yard is presently 12-18" stems of fluffy seed heads ~ yikes. I'm quite sure the rain has them all lying on the ground 'doing their little seed thing' now, so there are probably another billion just waiting to take.

Should the yard be cut and bagged first, then RU, followed by a pre-emergent a couple of weeks later to curtail the reseeding process?

I'm thinking: do RU now and wait a month and do another, then spot with WbGM as things come up over the summer in preparation for seeding in late August. Does that sound right?

Wish she could hire this done, but if not, do you think borrowing my 2 gallon sprayer would work or does she need something bigger for that size lot?

I echo your sentiments about the neighbors. No better way to be accepted into 'emerald lawn land' than to get out there and show you care. And a weed hound will make a great 'yard warming' gift, as I have one and love it !

I didn't see you mention what grass species the lawn is (if any). Depending on the species it may limit your ability to control the new weeds.

RU is pretty good at completely killing everything it touches, tap root and all. While those large stems are not going to be pulling nutrients to the root, the wide leaves for sure will be as they are providing the energy for all of those stems (there is always another 2-3 that are waiting to shoot up). The fall IS the best time to kill them, but the spring is the second best so do it now.

I think scalping the lawn (and bagging) if there really is no grass present is the best way to remove and harm the existing dandelions/seed. Less green up top = less energy/ability to provide new growth even though that tap root stores a LOT of it. But then give it a couple days to force the dandelions to expend energy to regrow a bit (you do need something for the Roundup to absorb through after all).

Also are you/she prepared for a barren lawn for the entire summer? Because if you don't seed and use RU/WBG Max it pretty much will be a dust bowl/mud pit depending on amount of rain. I don't think that's a nice look (better off just cutting really short for the rest of the spring and summer and doing this again in the fall with seeding) personally.

A 2 gallon sprayer is going to be a LONG (and painful) process (but can be done). I have a 1/5 of a 1/4 acre and it takes me about 30-40min to spray my lawn. That is constantly moving in lines, while hunched over and I'm pretty sore/tired when done (and I'm relatively young and in good shape). I would hate to do 5 times that work! But get another 2 gallon sprayer, work as a team, and it would only be 2.5X the work! So yeah, try to hire a place and say you want a Roundup treatment. While they're at it have them put down a long-lasting pre-M like Dimension or Trimec as well (not sure if they can mix RU and Pre-M in the same batch or have to do 2 applications).

Good morning, enigma 7 and thank you for your reply.

The well kept lawns all around her lot are probably a combo of KBG and a fine fescue ~ really beautiful. There is no way to tell what the original lawn was as there is not a blade left (literally !), but there is sod netting, so I can only assume there was something acceptable 5 years ago.

I really like your suggestion of having someone apply RU and a pre-emergent, but wonder, as you mentioned, about the dust bowl affect for summer.

Does it make sense to:
1. cut/bag to remove the stems and not the leaves
2.RU - hopefully by some company
3. Wait 3-4 weeks and plant annual rye just to hold the soil and give some appearance of green
4. After grass is up, apply pre-emergent for rest of summer
5. Late August, have same company do another RU and then power seed with good KBG/fescue blend

It all this sounds like it could work, I feel it would give her the best of both worlds: eliminate the 'ugliest yard on the block' look, give her some 'green for summer' and do the most lasting and beneficial work in late August.

It's a beautiful morning as the city of Louisville gets ready for the Kentucky Derby !
annie