Discussions

every year dandelions appear, I like em.

I gave up on spraying a couple of years ago when the bylaw changed and I spent $240 for a year's worth of treatments that didn't work at all.  
 
Now I just fertilize myself and I pick them by hand (or to be more exact, by foot), with one of these: . It takes some time early in the year, but if you keep up on it througout the year, it's pretty manageable, and if your grass is thick it eventually chokes most of the weeds out.  
 
Way cheaper, I get some exercise, and it works much better.

Wake up. What have dandelions ever done to hurt you? Then compare to the hazards of having cancer, allergy causing chemicals sprayed all over the city. I have visited communities (not in Manitoba) that quit using herbicides 25 years ago and they have beautiful yards and gardens. The learned to think outside the box.

They are just dandelions..and only temporary..2-3 weeks and they are gone.Unfortunately the litter,potholes and other eyesores will remain... Sad that the loss of pollinators and cancer causing herbicides/pesticides take a backseat to having the ubiquitous perfect manicured lawn.

My yard looks good and I use NO chemicals.Have been using corn gluten for a few years (not an instant cure)Much less cost than chemicals and it is not harmful.

pudds said "I gave up on spraying a couple of years ago when the bylaw changed and I spent $240 for a year's worth of treatments that didn't work at all.     Now I just fertilize myself and I pick them by hand (or to be more exact, by foot), with one of these: . It takes some time early in the year, but if you keep up on it througout the year, it's pretty manageable, and if your grass is thick it eventually chokes most of the weeds out.     Way cheaper, I get some exercise, and it works much better. "

It's fine if you have a postage stamp for a yard coupled with a neighbourhood who doesn't let them go to seed.  
 
This gadget removed too much of a divet for my liking. It would take me hours a day to rid my yard of weeds with this thing. As so it hangs on the wall in the garage waiting to get back to a time where we only have a few weeds. You know that time, when people cared that their yards were tidy and somewhat maintained with a mow or two a year.  
 
The city doesn't care and residents will follow suit. Never thought I'd be one of them.  
 
It'll snow in a few months.

Okay, so after reading all the comments I had to say something. First, the dandelions are embarrassing, but it's hardly the cities fault. I predicted this infestation happening the minute the government banned pesticides for cosmetic use.  
 
I know many people don't like pesticides and claim they are "cancer causing" because that is what they see on TV or hear on the news. The news eats this up because it gives them ratings. I have sat though many seminars and tutorials on this subject and while no scientist has been able to show no link to say pesticides don't cause cancer, there has also not been any that proved they are. In fact, many things in your home are more carcinogenic than the ingredients in many pesticides. This includes talcum powder, women's makeup, hair conditioner, and even toothpaste is worse. Yet, people don't worry about them because the media doesn't cover them.  
 
Personally, I don't think they should fully remove the ban, but should adjust it so only qualified and trained professionals can apply it safely and timed correctly. So much of the problem chemical is applied at the incorrect time or wrong conditions which causes the problems.  
 
As for the people who are allergic to the chemical. That sucks, honestly. But how about the people who are allergic to pollen or the seeds off of the dandelion. These days I go weeks without being able to smell or breath normally. With proper chemical application which is monitored I think everyone can win.  
 
Sorry for the rant.

standupguy said "not a big deal..does good for the bees and so on. What I find "ugly" is the amount of trash everywhere and the amount of gravel and dirt on the streets. "

exactly!! couldnt agree more on this comment. as for the meridians and boulevards it isnt even june yet, so hold on the crews are just starting to get out and start the clean up and planting. doesn happen overnight and im pretty sure the students they hire do alot of this work. last year they looked fabulous, and costly.

The city will never care enough to clean this place up,planting some flowers won't do the trick! I guess they can't do a job their paid to do(taxes)  
Very lazy city with little ambition

Anderson71 said "The city will never care enough to clean this place up,planting some flowers won't do the trick! I guess they can't do a job their paid to do(taxes)   Very lazy city with little ambition "

Captain negative has spoken.  
 
It's just dandelions.

month, the dandelions would of gone through their cycle and won't be as plentiful.  
 
This is a yearly topic around this time.

Nothing is done to keep this city beautiful for our visitors to see. It is not just us as residents. Potholes, broken curbs everywhere. Unkept boulevards. Dirty streets, garbage everywhere. I think the message should be take some pride. However city departments don''t care! Collect the taxes and every year services to keep our city clean and acceptable decrease and leave the homeowners carrying the bag if they have pride in their little piece of heaven. I called Parks and Recreation almost 3 weeks ago about a hatch of worms on their boulevard trees. Be pro-active and come and spray them. (Don't give me the bee excuse. BTK does not harm bees.) Does not take very long to get it done. Now they have completely defoliated 2 trees on the boulevard and have moved to the ones on my property. $262.50 to fix the problem. Out of my pocket and Parks will not even answer or return my calls. Broken curbs all around us from snow clearing this past winter. Streets finally just swept and at break neck speed and without dust suppressant or street signs to void the streets of cars. I now have a dusty mess to clean up all over my house from this bush league cheap cleaning job. I was in Regina last weekend and my wife and I both noted how clean their city looked compared to Brandon. Bottom line our civic leaders and us as citizens of Brandon should show a little pride and keep our city beautiful. My two cents!  
 
Edited by Dan Forsythe, 2017-05-26 08:54:50

Streets definitely need to be cleaned. I have seen the city crews out cleaning some of them, but the province does not seem to be doing the streets that they are responsible for, like Victoria Avenue, 1st Street, Richmond Avenue and 18th Street. It seems to me that they didn't clean them last year either. I realize that they're dealing with a deficit, but it's just four streets! Then there are the parking lots, the Mall, Canadian Tire, etc. I literally see clouds of dust blowing off and across those parking lots. It's almost summer, it's not going to snow anymore.  
 
My reasons for wanting to be able to buy the chemicals are not so much for spraying the whole yard to get rid of dandelions. As I've said, I don't mind the dandelions that much and I'm too cheap to spend the money to spray my whole yard anyway. If someone else wants to spray theirs they should be allowed to. In my case, I would be spraying smaller areas to get rid of crab/quack grass so that I could seed with a desirable grass, so really a one time application. I'm not going to go to all the work of digging out the undesirable grass or pulling it by hand and I'm not going to till my lawn. If I can't spray it then I guess it stays. I also find it very effective for killing tree stumps. The homeowner should have the right to decide what they want to apply to their own lawn. Landowners, homeowners, farmers have already lost, given up, too many of our property rights and individual freedoms to environmentalism.  
 
I'll give credit to the city for beautifying Brandon. The flower displays are nice. The ones along 18th Street North are one of the first things people see when the enter the city. Sadly, some of the ones downtown seem to get trashed by idiots and losers every year.  
 
As for those "Brandon" signs, I always though ti strange that they weren't illuminated.

I would much rather see tax dollars go towards road and infrastructure repair, garbage and weed control are very far down the list in my eyes.  
 
Form should follow function, what good are clean curbs if the road itself is so broken people avoid driving on it ?  
 
If the city got to the point that all the roads, sidewalks, bridges and plumbing were good and safe, then spend excess money on beautifying things, but don't smear lipstick on a pig.  
 
As to dandelions, everyone wants that perfect perennial flower garden that blooms no matter what but they overlook the dandelion, it sprouts up anywhere and everywhere without having to spend a dime

Granted, the City could do more to beautify. But it's a delicate balancing act. There are several vacant buildings in the city with negligent or absent owners. The City can only go so far to "force" people to clean up. Secondly, Brandon is unique, geographically speaking. It has a major river running right through it that regularly floods. So, here it is, many people complain about how the city wastes money, but doesn't spend enough on killing weeds. Which would you prefer, flood protection measures, or fewer dandelions?

If you have a huge yard, or neighbours who don''t care, then yes, this isn''t a good option.  
 
I have a pretty big yard though - 65'' frontage on a corner lot, and I don''t have much trouble keeping up after the first big round in the spring.  
 
It does take pretty big divots, but I figure it''s like aerating by hand.  
 
Edit: This was in reply to Hackeda with respect to the weed-puller, but the site evidently forgot I was replying to a person and not just the thread after I was redirected to the log in page.  
 
Edited by pudds, 2017-05-26 13:51:53

http://www.bestplaceincanada.com/cities/brandon  
http://www.communitiesinbloom.ca/brandon/  
 
Edited by loeog, 2017-05-26 16:37:07

The other half sprayed our yard but we still have dandelions. It's not the end of the world though. What bothers me is the handful of neighbours on the street that don't mow their yards until it's a jungle!! I told my husband to just mow them but he doesn't want to get stuck into doing that all the time lol.