Dandelions

[Roadgeekteen]

I have an irrational, unexplained fear of dandelions for no reason. I've had it since childhood but it's recently gotten better. Does anyone else also dislike dandelions?

[I-55]

I have an irrational, unexplained fear of dandelions for no reason. I've had it since childhood but it's recently gotten better. Does anyone else also dislike dandelions?

I don't care for them but I cannot say I have an irrational fear.

[Roadgeekteen]

I have an irrational, unexplained fear of dandelions for no reason. I've had it since childhood but it's recently gotten better. Does anyone else also dislike dandelions?

I don't care for them but I cannot say I have an irrational fear.

I'm mostly the same way now.

[Max Rockatansky]

I dislike weeds in general. 

[thspfc]

In what way are you scared of dandelions? Like do you think they're going to jump out and eat you? 

I like the yellow dandelions, but the gray ones are annoying.

[Roadgeekteen]

In what way are you scared of dandelions? Like do you think they're going to jump out and eat you? 

I like the yellow dandelions, but the gray ones are annoying.

They gross me out. I'm not a huge fan of weeds or even just plants in general. I have seasonal allergies.

[JoePCool14]

Whatever you do, don't walk around my campus then.

[hotdogPi]

They have good ice cream, although I haven't been there in years.
https://goo.gl/maps/TtriRrsXEdz1gJQu9

[webny99]

I'm not scared of them, I just think they're ugly, especially when they go to seed, so I appreciate it when people fertilize their lawns to keep them away. Most people do on my street, so the few that don't stand out.

They have good ice cream, although I haven't been there in years.
https://goo.gl/maps/TtriRrsXEdz1gJQu9

You forgot just one thing: 

[vdeane]

In what way are you scared of dandelions? Like do you think they're going to jump out and eat you? 

I like the yellow dandelions, but the gray ones are annoying.

They gross me out. I'm not a huge fan of weeds or even just plants in general. I have seasonal allergies.

Are they like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf7o_qv6KWA

[Roadgeekteen]

Dandelion flowers are ok, the seedy white/grey ones are awful.

[Brandon]

I'm not a fan of them as they are an invasive species, i.e. not native to North America.

[Takumi]

I'm not a fan of them as they are an invasive species, i.e. not native to North America.

Somewhere a Native American is struggling to not type something.

[Scott5114]

Dandelions don't bother me. They're a good source of nectar for bees and their roots bring up nutrients that other plants without such deep roots can use. They're also apparently nutritious (not that I've tried eating them myself) and can be used to make wine.

What constitutes a "weed" is so arbitrary that I'm kind of suspicious of the term. Look at a natural grassy area; it doesn't look like a lawn at all. So much of lawncare is rooted in the culture of big-ass British manors that used a large, uniform blanket of grass as a status symbol to show off how they had the money to pay landscapers to keep it immaculate.  Then when the middle class started getting their own land they sought to do the same thing. It's all just a big money and time pit that's best avoided.

Huge monoculture swaths of a single species of grass are bad for the soil, and the chemicals that go into maintaining it are bad for the environment, especially when they run off into local waterways. Native plants do better with less maintenance and are better for the soil and the surrounding wildlife. Some things characterized as weeds, like henbit and clover, actually look pretty nice to me. I grew up on a one-acre lot so we never had a desire to spray all of that for weeds, so some of the "weeds" are just normal yard plants to me.

I used to have someone spray my yard for weeds because it made it easier to mow, but then I realized I could just use that money to pay a guy with a bigger lawnmower than me to come out and mow twice as often.

What I think would be really cool would be if I could get moss to grow on my yard.

[GaryV]

What constitutes a "weed" is so arbitrary that I'm kind of suspicious of the term.

A weed is something that grows where you don't want it to grow.

What I think would be really cool would be if I could get moss to grow on my yard.

My wife and I were discussing this just last week.  Grow moss or lichens for a yard.  It would be nice and soft to walk on.  No more mowing, but you'd have to hire someone to bring out reindeer once or twice a year to trim it.

[Roadgeekteen]

Dandelions don't bother me. They're a good source of nectar for bees and their roots bring up nutrients that other plants without such deep roots can use. They're also apparently nutritious (not that I've tried eating them myself) and can be used to make wine.

What constitutes a "weed" is so arbitrary that I'm kind of suspicious of the term. Look at a natural grassy area; it doesn't look like a lawn at all. So much of lawncare is rooted in the culture of big-ass British manors that used a large, uniform blanket of grass as a status symbol to show off how they had the money to pay landscapers to keep it immaculate.  Then when the middle class started getting their own land they sought to do the same thing. It's all just a big money and time pit that's best avoided.

Huge monoculture swaths of a single species of grass are bad for the soil, and the chemicals that go into maintaining it are bad for the environment, especially when they run off into local waterways. Native plants do better with less maintenance and are better for the soil and the surrounding wildlife. Some things characterized as weeds, like henbit and clover, actually look pretty nice to me. I grew up on a one-acre lot so we never had a desire to spray all of that for weeds, so some of the "weeds" are just normal yard plants to me.

I used to have someone spray my yard for weeds because it made it easier to mow, but then I realized I could just use that money to pay a guy with a bigger lawnmower than me to come out and mow twice as often.

What I think would be really cool would be if I could get moss to grow on my yard.

Weeds just grow very wildly, while domesticated plants grow more neatly.

[index]

[snipped]

Weeds just grow very wildly, while domesticated plants grow more neatly.

Only really because we maintain them. Look at what Kudzu did to the South and that was used for domesticated, ornamental purposes only.

What I think would be really cool would be if I could get moss to grow on my yard.

Having one of those would be a dream. Nice and soft to walk on and you don't have to waste so much money and time maintaining something vain, that exists for no reason other than looking pretty for half the year, so you don't get neighbors whining at you for having the grass 4 nanometers taller than it should, declaring it a "nuisance" because it hurts the neighboring property value by one trillionth of one femtocent in old Zimbabwe Dollars.

I liked this article on biodiverse lawns:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/08/03/my-town-calls-my-lawn-a-nuisance-but-i-still-refuse-to-mow-it/

[Roadgeekteen]

[snipped]

Weeds just grow very wildly, while domesticated plants grow more neatly.

Only really because we maintain them. Look at what Kudzu did to the South and that was used for domesticated, ornamental purposes only.

Any cases of domesticated/tamed dandelions?

[triplemultiplex]

They were brought to North America as a food source.  The young leaves are very edible; comparable to those fancy-looking mixed greens some people like.

[Scott5114]

What I think would be really cool would be if I could get moss to grow on my yard.

Having one of those would be a dream. Nice and soft to walk on and you don't have to waste so much money and time maintaining something vain, that exists for no reason other than looking pretty for half the year, so you don't get neighbors whining at you for having the grass 4 nanometers taller than it should, declaring it a "nuisance" because it hurts the neighboring property value by one trillionth of one femtocent in old Zimbabwe Dollars.

Ask and you will receive, I guess–I just went outside to get a gallon of water out of the rain barrel and found a patch of moss happily soaking up the puddle that forms from the barrel's overflow! There are a lot of other green spots on the dirt in the area too–guess I should get the watering can out and keep them moist until they sprout into moss too. It's a shady area under some Bradford pear trees in the front yard that I've never been able to get grass to grow in, so it'd be nice to have some ground cover there.

[In_Correct]

I do not and will not live in any area that I paid money for yet am told what to do on my property such as mow a lawn and the type of grass to plant and even water. I am slowly turning the yard into mostly side walks. With various plants. Some are Sunflowers. And Irises. Some of it consists of Tiger Lilies. Some are trees. The rest is and all ways will be:

"Pardon The Weeds. We Are Feeding The Bees.".

I have no problem with Dandelions. And Clover. And Poke. They and other Natural Plants that I have converted in to Ornamental Garden Plants.  If people still do not like it, I put up fences to help people look the other way. Or Else.

[index]

What I think would be really cool would be if I could get moss to grow on my yard.

Having one of those would be a dream. Nice and soft to walk on and you don't have to waste so much money and time maintaining something vain, that exists for no reason other than looking pretty for half the year, so you don't get neighbors whining at you for having the grass 4 nanometers taller than it should, declaring it a "nuisance" because it hurts the neighboring property value by one trillionth of one femtocent in old Zimbabwe Dollars.

Ask and you will receive, I guess—I just went outside to get a gallon of water out of the rain barrel and found a patch of moss happily soaking up the puddle that forms from the barrel's overflow! There are a lot of other green spots on the dirt in the area too—guess I should get the watering can out and keep them moist until they sprout into moss too. It's a shady area under some Bradford pear trees in the front yard that I've never been able to get grass to grow in, so it'd be nice to have some ground cover there.

Don't those things stink like rotting fish in the spring? I was pretty sure my middle school's campus had those, during the spring when they were in full bloom the entire campus smelled like a mix of smoke, rotting food, and body odor. (Although, to be fair, middle schoolers already smell like this in the first place) It smells horrible but it probably attracts bugs to help it spread pollen.

I do not and will not live in any area that I paid money for yet am told what to do on my property such as mow a lawn and the type of grass to plant and even water. I am slowly turning the yard into mostly side walks. With various plants. Some are Sunflowers. And Irises. Some of it consists of Tiger Lilies. Some are trees. The rest is and all ways will be:

"Pardon The Weeds. We Are Feeding The Bees.".

I have no problem with Dandelions. And Clover. And Poke. They and other Natural Plants that I have converted in to Ornamental Garden Plants.  If people still do not like it, I put up fences to help people look the other way. Or Else.

Unfortunately some municipalities don't take kindly to this. I read an article a bit ago talking about something along the lines of how a city fined a man 500 dollars per day...Due to overgrown grass when he was gone for 8 weeks taking care of his sick mother or something. Then tried to foreclose on his house.

Because HOAs, neighbors, and municipalities are so needlessly anal about pointless suburban aesthetics and what people do on their own property, I always get a kick out of spite stories like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FriO91on3I

[Scott5114]

Don't those things stink like rotting fish in the spring? I was pretty sure my middle school's campus had those, during the spring when they were in full bloom the entire campus smelled like a mix of smoke, rotting food, and body odor. (Although, to be fair, middle schoolers already smell like this in the first place) It smells horrible but it probably attracts bugs to help it spread pollen.

They do put off a pretty weird salty odor, but it doesn't really bother me, and it's only for a couple of weeks in the spring (when it's usually cold enough I don't spend much time outside anyway).

They're not my favorite trees, but they came with the house and I have no good reason to cut them down, so I'm not going to. (I love trees, especially in this era of high carbon levels). They have a pretty short lifespan compared to most types of trees, so I may end up having to replace them at some point anyway. When that happens, I'll probably go with a maple or another white oak. I planted a white oak in another part of my front yard in 2018 and it's doing beautifully. Unless something happens to it, it should grow to be as much as 100 feet tall and outlive me by several times my lifespan.

[In_Correct]

Orchards are nice.

Also Lawn Mowing is a part of Deforestation. If Lawns are not mowed and when Gardens are planted trees will grow. If I have the space and if they are not near Utilities, I have let trees grow. ... and now they are massive.

[index]

Don't those things stink like rotting fish in the spring? I was pretty sure my middle school's campus had those, during the spring when they were in full bloom the entire campus smelled like a mix of smoke, rotting food, and body odor. (Although, to be fair, middle schoolers already smell like this in the first place) It smells horrible but it probably attracts bugs to help it spread pollen.

They do put off a pretty weird salty odor, but it doesn't really bother me, and it's only for a couple of weeks in the spring (when it's usually cold enough I don't spend much time outside anyway).

They're not my favorite trees, but they came with the house and I have no good reason to cut them down, so I'm not going to. (I love trees, especially in this era of high carbon levels). They have a pretty short lifespan compared to most types of trees, so I may end up having to replace them at some point anyway. When that happens, I'll probably go with a maple or another white oak. I planted a white oak in another part of my front yard in 2018 and it's doing beautifully. Unless something happens to it, it should grow to be as much as 100 feet tall and outlive me by several times my lifespan.

Speaking of trees, I have never really understood the aversion to shadiness in a lot of communities. Nice, shady streets look so much better, but no. Cut your branches or face a fine, rake all those leaves or face a fine, etc. It seems like none of the residential areas here outside of Charlotte proper, with its expansive tree canopy, have much shadiness, and the trees are ridiculously stunted in a lot of the suburban developments. I think it might have to do with it encouraging mold and mildew growth if not done right. (I think in that case, we should simply design them for shadiness)

One of my neighbor's neighbors had planted massive, tall bushes in an attempt to give themselves privacy in their yard and it encouraged horrible mold and mildew growth on the side of their house that was constantly in the shade from those bushes that he'd constantly have to wash off. There is though, a development near me that was intentionally centered around a wooded theme, and while I dislike our current form of suburban planning, it looks far better than the bland expanses of vinyl sidings, stunted trees, and manicured, monocultured lawns. It really feels like it has some character to it. Not to mention it's cooler in the summer and mitigates urban heat effects, especially in somewhere like the South.