response 114 of 172:

Jun 17 22:00 UTC 1997

The neighbors never said a word.....my feeling of pressure could only have
been ancestral.

response 116 of 172:

Jun 18 18:15 UTC 1997

Good question...why don't they? If the dandelion were a rare and hard
to cultivate plant, my neighbors and the city would probably be planting it
for early spring color. I like the flower. But, like the ancient Greeks,
I follow "everything in moderation". That's also why I don't care for grass
as the majority.

response 118 of 172:

Jun 19 15:52 UTC 1997

Is it an urge for "control"? Vast lawns go back a long ways. They represent
both control over nature, which is an ancestral urge (since nature was
pretty dangerous to early man), and also a form of conspicuous consumption,
since it represents wealth to maintain a monoculture against natural forces.
Somehow I have less of this gene, as I like a diverse habitat, and would
let it grow up with natural plants, except for that fragment of the control
gene I do have. 

response 120 of 172:

Jun 20 12:55 UTC 1997

The name "ChemLawn" is disturbing enough.  ;)

I have a a lawn nazi on one side of my house, and a "just enough" on the 
other side.  I'm leaning towards the "just enough", although I will 
admit to using Weed & Feed to keep the dandilions under control.  The 
previous owner was "barely legal", which means plenty of non-grass 
plants in my lawn.

I don't mind the dandilions until they lose all their seed and become 
Ugly Stalks.  That is enough reason to get rid of most of them.  I'd do 
it by hand, except that my lawn is too big to make that practical.  The 
weeds do seem to attract rabbits, though.

My back yard is mostly lawn, but with a couple areas gone wild (and 
mowed carefully around to make it look intentional).

response 122 of 172:

Jun 24 07:49 UTC 1997

I've read that a century ago vast lawns included other plants than
grass, like clover, for instance, and they were not considered as
weeds.  Clover will actually benefit the soil, as it is a legume
and fixes nitrogen.

Our lawn in the backyard is green and thick and includes many other
plants than grass.  Dandelions, creeping charlie, etc...  I don't
mind, as long as Ken mows it regularly.  My neighbor on the right
dug all her dandelions out by hand over a period of years.  My
neighbor on the left has a front lawn that is mostly crabgrass
(not that I mind....  Our front lawn is almost entirely weeds,
since it's too shady for regular grass, and there's a big mossy
patch in the middle...  I'm considering reseeding this fall with
a shade-tolerant eco-lawn mixture).

response 124 of 172:

Jun 24 23:23 UTC 1997

Re 121:
        Wouldn't a lawn-gone-wild be more like a meadow than a prarie?

ChemLawn is a scary company.  I came home one day to find a little plastic
bag attached to our front doorknob from ChemLawn that said 'Look what we
found!' on it.  We hadn't hired them to do this or anything.  Inside was a
leaf from some kind of plant, and a couple of bugs.  Is it just me, or is that
the craziest thing to do -- look through somebody's lawn for insects.  Insects
are *expected* in an outdoor area.  What do they want us to do, exterminate
them?

response 126 of 172:

Jun 25 11:22 UTC 1997

Chemlawn's now using specimens in bags?  I think they have given up on us
as I've not seen anything from them in the last couple of years.  Can't
say I blame them.  It also seems that our front lawn has become the local
sanctuary for ants.  We have three or four good sized nests.  None of
them get into the house and ant lions have set up residence in the dry
soil under the eves.  (Pretty ugly creatures with pincers about as long
as their body.  I'm sure they would be great gross-em-out critters for
Chemlawn's specimen bags ;-)

response 128 of 172:

Jun 26 08:03 UTC 1997

You could dig the dandelions up in the spring befor they flower and
eat them.  They make great salad greens, but they become bitter when
they flower.  You can also make dandelion wine out of the flowers.
I have a whole book of dandelion recipes.

response 132 of 172:

Jul 2 00:42 UTC 1997

I've been thinking about calling dandelion seed stalks "ugly". I was at
the St. Louis zoo a couple of days ago, and got a bit annoyed at other
visitors (and their kids) calling this or that animal "ugly". Yes, there
was a gecko that did not look like Bambi, but I am sure that in the wild
the species is rerproductively successful - and indeed those dandelion
stalks *are* reproductively successful. They are, in fact, marvelous
instruments of that - what's "ugly" about that? Nevertheless, I have an
aversion to their appearance, but now recognized that that is MY fault -
perhaps genetic, but overcomable with education and tolerance.

response 134 of 172:

Jul 2 11:53 UTC 1997

Dandelions are truly amazing plants!  I have pulled budding dandelions out
by the roots, tossed them into the wilderness between us and our neighbors
only to have them caught by some branch and just dangle there.  Within 24
hrs. that same uprooted dandelion will have flowered and turned to seed while
hanging there!
 
This year my kids picked several dandelion flowers, laid them in a plastic
pie-tin and filled it with water.  It sat around outside for several days
but most of the flowers managed to bend their heads up and go to seed, all
without the remainder of the plant!

response 136 of 172:

Jul 2 20:52 UTC 1997

Yes, adjusting attitudes *is* more difficult than spraying poisons.
Ants and centipedes can be health hazards. I doubt that dadelions are
(also, they are not in your house - I presume you tolerate ants and centipedes
outside?)