Have a sustainable (and even tasty) lawn without chemicals!
From the KitsapSun.com, by Ann Lovejoy:
What’s so bad about dandelions? Nothing really. Indeed, old European tapestries often include lovely lawns embroidered with flowers, including dandelions. They came to shame as English landowners developed a taste for “unsullied greensward.”…
(Turf mixes used to include) clover, also now on many lawn lovers’ hit list. Clovers were considered important and useful because they build soil quality. Like all legumes (pea family members), clovers are natural nitrogen-fixers that capture atmospheric nitrogen through their leaves and store it in little white nodules on their roots. And when they die off, they feed the soil and nourish slower growing turf grasses. Today’s monoculture lawns are far less resilient and less drought tolerant…
Dandelions (if you must be rid of them) are quickly killed off by a robust, healthy, deep-rooted lawn. (Give) all lawn area an annual mulch of an inch of compost. Do this all at once or in half-inch increments each spring and fall. Dump compost by the wheelbarrow load and rake it in or use a manure spreader to get fairly even coverage. Existing grass will employ those compost nutrients and bounce back with alacrity.
(If you can’t wait a couple of seasons,) Dandelions are most vulnerable to root damage when in flower, so cut dandelions whenever you see buds or blooms, then sauté their young greens or enjoy them in salads!