I just discovered the quickest hack to stop dandelions taking over my lawn – all you need is a vacuum cleaner

I moved into a property with a large lawn earlier this year which is proving to be both a joy and a lot of maintenance. It has a particularly weedy patch full of dandelions that seem to keep spreading, no matter my efforts to control them. That's why this new hack of using a vacuum cleaner has caught my eye.

I like to keep some dandelions around because they are such a valuable source of nectar for pollinators and dandelions are both weeds and flowers, after all. But, I would be lying if I didn't admit that seeing them take over my entire yard is irritating.

If you've also struggled to get rid of dandelions, you'll be pleased to learn about this dandelion vacuum hack. It simply requires you to suck up the seedheads before they have the chance to spread. Let's take a closer look at how it works.

How to use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of dandelions

I find leaving dandelions in your yard is a great way to attract pollinators, but not attempting to control them at all will leave you with a meadow of yellow flowerheads.

The problem occurs when they turn into white puff-ball seedheads. They change quickly and I find by the time I attempt to get rid of them, it's already too late and the seeds have spread throughout my yard.

But, with one of the best handheld vacuums in hand, you can quickly suck the seeds up before they have a chance to spread too far.

A cordless handheld vacuum (from Walmart) would be the best choice for my yard, to reach right at the back of my lawn without needing an electrical outlet.

This dandelion vacuum hack is a quick solution and simply requires placing the vacuum over the seedheads, turning it on, and watching them disappear. Of course, you need to then make sure to then dispose of the seeds in garden waste to prevent them from spreading from the vacuum dustbin.

By preventing the seeds from self-sowing elsewhere in your yard, you're able to get rid of weeds for good. But, bear in mind some seeds may spread before you get the chance to suck them up, so it's only realistic to expect a few dandelions to still crop up.

That's why it's worth employing other methods to control dandelions alongside this. I personally use a weed puller tool (like this from Amazon) to pull up dandelion roots and stop them coming back, but you can also use chemical methods, like this lawn weed killer from Amazon.

Nevertheless, there's no denying this method will help control the number of dandelions in your yard – I can't wait to try it out and watch my lawn breathe free of these weeds.

FAQs

Do dandelions spread if you mow them?

Dandelions don't tend to spread if you mow them while flowering, however, knocking them down when seedheads are out can potentially spread seeds. At the same time, mowing dandelions is not the most effective way to get rid of them. Instead, you should use methods to pull them up, including their deep tap roots, as well as collecting seedheads before they have the chance to spread.

I'll definitely be trying the dandelion vacuum hack the next time the dandelions in my yard go to seed. In fact, this hack can work for other common weeds that spread by seed, too, and help get rid of and kill weeds but not grass.