Dandelion season

by Selena Randall

Dandelion season is hard to miss with the verges and people’s gardens full of the bright yellow flowers or the fluffy heads. The bumble bees love them because they are one of the first flowers that come out, and provide nectar for them. In a tough spring like this year when it felt like we had second and even third winter, those yellow flowers likely kept those bees going until other blossoms came out.

People hate them though. 

They have this canny knack of bending over to avoid the lawn mower blade as it passes. This means, we go up and down like the Queen in Alice in Wonderland chopping off their heads, and 30 minutes after we are done, our lawns are half yellow again.

Contrary to popular opinion, in most cases they do not need to be controlled under the noxious weeds act. They are not an issue in agricultural fields where herbicides are routinely applied, and since they don’t harm our economy we don’t need to wage war on them

Since the non-essential pesticide use regulation came into force under the Environment Act in 2015, http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/regs/annual/2014/286.pdf  We have not been allowed to use herbicides on our lawns, legally. 

In the old days, when herbicides were allowed on our lawns, the regulations required signs to be used to tell people that herbicides had been used. This gave people warning so they could keep their pets and children, for whom such chemicals can be harmful, away.

In my neighborhood, people don’t bother with the signs, because that would be like advertising that they are using herbicides in breach of the legislation, but they are applying herbicides. We’ve even had people come to our door offering to spray our lawn, such is the attitude towards the law.

It’s very obvious when lawns are sprayed There’s the chemical smell for one – 2-4, D has a distinctive smell. And then there’s the curly stems of the dandelions themselves. When I see those stems and smell that smell, I know I need to walk my dog somewhere else. And when the season is done, the dandelion free lawn stands out from those that are not sprayed.

Somehow it bothers me, that someone would waste money and effort on killing those yellow flowers, when they are going to have to keep doing it - twice a year, every year, because the dandelion seedbank is healthy and high in most neighbourhoods. 

And it bothers me that people value their green lawns over the health of children, pets and bees. Is that really true? Are we risking the health of our children and our pets, lying to purchase products, for our hatred of a humble yellow flower?