I’m a weed expert – my 40p trick gets rid of dandelions for good but gardeners must use with caution
AN EXPERT has shared a handy trick for how to get rid of pesky dandelions for good for just 40p.
Though dandelions add a splash of colour to gardens and can brighten up a lawn, they can impact the health of other plants if they’re not managed properly.
According to experts, dandelions release a chemical that can actually stump the growth of other plants in the area by hogging nutrients from them – but luckily, there’s a quick and easy way to tackle the problem.
Using vinegar can in fact be used as a natural herbicide to banish these weeds thanks to its high concentration of acetic acid.
Landscaper Genevieve, who runs North Coast Gardening, advises use of a unique “injection” tactic of vinegar to remove the dandelions in a way that won’t ruin your lawn.
She told Express.co.uk: “I just got a nifty tip on how to kill dandelions organically when they are growing in your lawn or the centre of another plant: injection with vinegar-based organic weed killer.”
“You may have found that if you spray non-selective herbicide, organic or otherwise, on your dandelion, you end up with a dead patch of lawn to match your dead dandelion, which is so not cool.”
She added that while attempting to tackle the roots with a knife is an option, you have to keep doing it over and over again as any leftover root fragments result in the return of dandelions.
The unique approach of using a small syringe to inject them directly helps to protect the surrounding grass.
“The whole injection-by-hand thing may sound like a pain, but if your dandelions have really good taproots and keep coming back, I’d think 20 seconds per weed is well worth it being gone forever,” she explained.
Once injected, the roots should dehydrate and die within two weeks, allowing the entire plant to be removed easily.
Noelle Orloff, who is a Weed and Invasive Plant Identification Diagnostician at US-based Montana State University, has also explained how vinegar works to remove dandelions.
Writing on the university’s website, Noelle explains: “Understanding the way acetic acid affects plants can help explain when it might be effective for weed control.
“Acetic acid ruptures plant cells, causing fluids to leak and plant tissues to dry out.
”It does not translocate or move within the plant to the roots or other plant parts.
”Good coverage of leaves and growing points at the top of the plant is necessary.”
According to the whizz, vinegars with the highest concentrations of acetic acid at 20-30% are usually most effective when it comes to banishing pesky dandelions.
Distilled malt vinegar or white vinegar is as close as it gets when it comes to kitchen cupboard essentials, usually containing between 5-10% of the acid.
Avid cleaning and gardening enthusiasts can purchase white vinegar from Sainsbury’s for as little as 40p.
To ensure the best results, spraying the yellow weeds until they’re completely wet is also vital – and when these are finally dead, all that’s left for you to do is to dig them out of the ground.
“Smaller and younger weeds are generally more susceptible to vinegar,” she continued.
“Seedlings at the two to four leaf stage are ideal because all leaves can be contacted by the spray solution, leaving the plant with inadequate resources to resprout.”
However, if you’ve decided to give this hack a go, gardeners should use vinegar with caution.
This is because the purse-friendly kitchen bargain ”non-selective”, meaning that it will injure not just weeds but almost any plant other it touches.
To prevent any damage on your lawn and across the outdoor space, it may be worth using vinegar only for weeds sprouting in the cracks of patios or driveways – and steer clear of those dandelions growing amongst other plants.
The pro continued: “Acetic acid tends to work best in hot and sunny conditions, and surfactants may improve efficacy.”