I think we all know what a dandelion looks like. Believe it or not, it is actually a flower, although most gardeners would class it as a weed. I certainly don’t want the ugly buggers in my lawn. They grow in the middle of grass, bright yellow flowers that smell of pee and overnight they can turn to a white head of seeds that scatter everywhere and make a mess.

To get rid of dandelions, you need to get a herbicide, i.e. a weedkiller (herbicide means the same thing apparently), that is a ’selective’ weedkiller. This means it will kill the dandelions but not your grass.

It’s important to use weedkiller at the right time. You have to kill the flower before it seeds, which is what can be difficult with dandelions, because they germinate so much and often. Plus their roots can grow up to ten inches below the ground, the nasty little cretins. You can’t even pull them up because the root is brittle, breaks easily and regrows.

You can use vinegar or Roundup and if you do, apply these directly onto the dandelion as they are non-selective and could damage your grass. The best vinegar to use is the highest in acetic acid. Common household vinegar is only 5% but boiling it will increase the acetic acid.

Top tips for using a selective herbicide:

Don’t mow the lawn for 2 - 3 days first or afterwards - the bigger the dandelion and its leaves, the better chance you have of killing them

Dandelions survive the winter through their roots. In early autumn, the nutrients from their leaves are passed to their roots to wait out the winter so the best time to get them is early autumn.

Go kill the dandelions!