As a kid, you may have loved picking dandelions and creating bouquets or rubbing their yellow pollen all over your hand. Don’t lose your love for dandelions just because they are classified as weeds. These small flowers are highly beneficial with each part of the dandelion having a different use.

With dandelions being so beneficial, you may now want to purposefully grow dandelions in your yard to harvest once they are bright yellow. Dandelions are incredibly easy to grow because they are weeds. Once you have them established, they take care of everything else.

If you’ve been wanting to grow your own dandelions to gain their benefits or simply to have more color in your yard, you’ve come to the right place.

What Are Dandelions Used For?

Each part of the dandelion plant is edible and has its own benefits. The roots, leaves, and flowers are the most commonly used parts, but there isn’t any harm in eating the stem too.

Allergy Warning

Inside the dandelion stem is a milky sap. For those who have a known allergy to latex, this dandelion sap can trigger that latex allergy. If you are allergic to latex, it is best to leave dandelions alone.

Dandelion Flowers

The flower heads of dandelions are the most versatile and enjoyable to eat. People make teas, baked goods, and salads using dandelion flowers. For some recipes, you will want to separate the petals from the flower head, but for salads and other meals, you can use the whole flower head.

Dandelion Leaves

The leaves of dandelions are also commonly used in salads and other meals because of their high vitamin content. Dandelion leaves are great for digestion and settling upset stomachs. They are also simply healthy to eat.

Dandelion Roots

Finally, we have the roots of dandelions. They are commonly used in dandelion root tea, which has a very similar flavor to coffee.

Along with aiding in digestion, dandelions help with lowering blood sugar and reducing inflammation. They support better liver function and strengthen your bones, making them the perfect addition to any meal or baked good.

Planting

Dandelions are classified as weeds which are known for being able to grow in a variety of tough conditions. Lack of space and water is not something that will stop these plants from growing.

With that, you know that you will have an easy time making your garden spotted with the bright yellow young dandelions.

Most of the time, you won’t need to go out and collect dandelion seeds. If you already have a few dandelions in your yard, you can wait for the dandelions to mature until they become white and puffy.

This is all of their seeds still attached to the flower head. Spreading dandelion seeds across your yard just takes blowing the seeds off a matured dandelion or sprinkling them around with your hand.

However, if you don’t already have dandelions, you can still purchase dandelion seeds.

Caring For Dandelions

Caring for dandelions is incredibly easy as they don’t require a lot to grow and aren’t picky about their conditions. You can add them to your vegetable garden or allow them to grow around your lawn. Letting them grow where they want to grow can help you get as many as possible.

However, to give your dandelions optimal growing conditions, take a look at these favorable conditions for dandelions.

Light

Dandelions love full sunlight and will grow rapidly when exposed to 8 to 10 hours of full sunlight a day. Dandelions are bright like the sun, meaning that they love to get as much sun as possible.

Water

While dandelions can still grow in droughts, they prefer to have moist soil at all times. They will benefit greatly from consistent watering to keep the soil moist but not drowning. To know when you need to water your dandelions, stick your finger 3 inches down into the soil, and if that soil is dry, then you need to water.

Soil

Dandelions will grow in any kind of soil; they really aren’t picky. However, for optimal growing conditions, dandelions love soil that is rich in nitrogen. Consider getting a nitrogen-based fertilizer if your soil is lacking in nitrogen for your dandelions.

Temperature

Dandelions prefer temperatures of at least 70F, but they can still grow and thrive in temperatures as low as 50F. Warmer conditions are the best for dandelions, which is why you may see them continue to grow into the first months of Summer.

Pests & Diseases

Dandelions can suffer from pests and diseases just like any other kind of plant. However, know that this is more uncommon and dandelions do a good job of preventing disease and being eaten by insects.

The biggest danger to dandelions is herbivore predators. Rabbits and other small creatures love to eat dandelions and if they get into your yard, can eat up a lot of your dandelions. Snails and slugs will also think that dandelions are tasty and will eat up the ones in your yard.

For larger predators, keep your dandelions protected by using wired screens or another kind of barrier. Then, for snails and slugs, they can often be plucked off with your hand. However, more extreme cases can require you to control the snail and slug population in your yard.

Conclusion

Some people hate having dandelions in their yards. However, what they fail to realize is that dandelions have so many benefits. They spruce up your yard by adding pops of color against your green grass. When you harvest dandelions, you can eat each part of them for extra nutrients in your diet.

Growing dandelions simply requires you to introduce them into your yard or vegetable garden and then keep up favorable conditions. Dandelions love lots of sunshine and moist soil. They also love nitrogen-rich soil.

When keeping the conditions in your yard favorable, dandelions will spring up rapidly and give you a ton of dandelions to use.