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The blooming signs of spring should fill us with happiness and hope for a lush and green growing season. However, save for children who love to blow and replant seeds across the land, the first flower of the season, the dandelion, oftentimes fills tenders of gardens and lawns with another, more aggressive, blooming emotion.
In May 2009, Avey Christiansen, from Camrose Alberta, wrote My War Against Dandelions:
I'm used to having picture perfect lawns. I grew up with a father who was so meticulous about the lawn that none of us kids were allowed to mow it. Our lawn was always lush and green. And when Mark and I bought our first home, it was a new home and they sodded it for us. Again, after a bit of watering, the lawn was lush and green. It seemed so simple to have a beautiful lawn.
But now we live in an older home and the yard hasn’t been well-maintained. Last summer, when the snow melted and we saw our lawn grow for the first time, I actually called my Dad to ask what to do about dandelions. He simply replied that you just ‘pull them.’ Well that’s a simple solution if you have one dandelion plant growing, or even 10. But our yard has hundreds. So, last summer I spent a lot of my time pulling dandelions.
Unfortunately for those wishing for luscious, less yellow, yards, dandelions are perennial weeds. There is no simple, one-time way to get rid of them. Due to a deep and resilient root system, chopping the heads off the plants will only prevent seeding. Avey’s dad is right—they must be pulled one by one.
To combat dandelions, the entire root system must be extradited. The plant can bounce back and multiply from even the smallest piece of stem—it’s like they resist extinction by sheer determination.
Their flower is a bright yellow indicator of poor soil quality. Instead of lamenting over the presence of dandelions, use it as an encouragement to pay closer attention to the health of your soil.
The idea of weeds taking over is a lot like the passage Rochelle McAlister discussed in the August LifeTrac article in Insights Magazine. Matthew 13 is the story of the farmer scattering seeds. In one instance, seeds the farmer was planting fell into thorns. Although they grew quickly, thorns choked out the tender seedlings (verse 8).
Sin, like weeds in a garden, has the ability to both choke out young faith as well as pop back into our lives year after year, no matter how hard we try to combat against it.
Instead of focusing on the yellow flower of sin, identify it as a sign of poor soul quality. Prayerfully work to extradite sin’s roots so it doesn’t continue to fester and multiply year after year.
One year into her war on dandelions, Avey avoids becoming overwhelmed by settling on a game plan: not worrying about the number of plants, but on what she can actually do about it. She decides to only pull those plants with a yellow flower and see how many plants she can rid her yard of.
I don’t think they've come back quite as badly this year, but I did pull about 25 on Monday. Today (only two days later), I’m sure that there are at least 15 more. That’s crazy. But I’m convinced that every year I pull them up I will have at least 10 or 20 per cent fewer the next year. We’ve also reseeded the skimpy grass a few times to encourage fuller growth. And we've fertilized. The lawn still looks quite poor, but I definitely think it’s a small step better than it was last summer.
People have their own special method for ridding yards and gardens of dandelions: pouring salt or vinegar on plants, burning them out or feeding them corn meal. There are even medical and food ideas for the especially courageous. However, for all the schemes, they come back to the same place—each dandelion needs to be dealt with individually, and the only way to prevent its imminent return is to remove the entire root.
It might seem simpler to give up and embrace the plant, or the sin, because the sheer amount seems too overwhelming to master. However, if you approach the problem like Avey, start with the ones you can see and rejoice with your progress, you will begin to see a change.
“You are right and you do right, God; your decisions are right on target. You rightly instruct us in how to live ever faithful to you. My rivals nearly did me in, they persistently ignored your commandments. Your promise has been tested through and through, and I, your servant, love it dearly. I’m too young to be important, but I don’t forget what you tell me. Your righteousness is eternally right, your revelation is the only truth. Even though troubles came down on me hard, your commands always gave me delight. The way you tell me to live is always right; help me understand it so I can live to the fullest,” (Psalm 119:137 The Message).
By Robyn Roste
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