Dandelion Love Hate?

Convincing a client that leaving dandelions in the garden is a good idea, is quite a challenge. If a part of the garden can be left for dandelions to grow, this is a good thing for early pollinators such as bees. Dandelions are one of the few native flora which flowers almost all year round. This prolific life cycle provides much-needed pollen in the depths of January and February.

Here is a bank I have left purposely for the growth of dandelions. It’s out side the main garden and will look beautiful when in full flower. As you can see there are bees on the flowers.

So why do most gardeners view the dandelions as pest weed?

In ecological terms, they fall in the category of an R species. Breeding Strategies (R and K) is a spectrum of how much parental investment a species offers its offspring. A human being would fall within the K species spectrum. This is because there is a lot of time in gestation and parental nurture. The dandelion is fast-growing and sets out around 15000 seeds (offspring). Their seeds are set fast and need no parental investment. If dandelions were a K breeding strategist, they wouldn't be as prolific in a garden setting. This is one reason I think they are truly hated by the traditional gardener.

Once the plant has set up its taproot it’s quite hard to get rid of (why bother?). This is where the herbicide manufacturer has exploited gardeners mind set. Manipulating advertising telling the gardener these plants are not wanted at all costs, and when I mean all costs, I means to the detriment to our wildlife and ecological systems. I think in the dandelion looks as beautiful as any other flower.

If anyone is interested, here is a brief outline of the K & R Breeding spectrum.

R-selected Species - Itroparous 

R = Growth Rate

• Unstable Environment - No parental nurture 

• High Fecundity (Make a lot of offspring)

• Small organism

• Early Maturity

• Short generation time

• Dispersed offspring 

• Examples - Dandelion, spiders, insects, frogs bacteria. 

K-selected Species - Semelporous 

K=Carry Capacity 

• Stable Environment - Parental Nurture

• Large organisms

• Long Life Expectancy 

• Fewer offspring

• Examples - whales, humans, some birds like the artic turn which lives for decades.