It’s not always easy to come by the seed for dandelions although wild flower seed suppliers should be able to help if you prefer not to use Amzon!. Nipping the seed head off a plant and scattering it on your patch is worth a try. The seed head is the ‘clock’, the white fluffy ball that replaces the flower.

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Because dandelions are such a wide spread weed, they come up where they are happiest, and they aren’t always easy to contain, or indeed germinate in the area you have allocated. However, to give them a good start, dig over the ground and remove any perennial weeds and non-organic debris, then rake over the soil to a fine consistency. Gently scatter the seed and rake over very gently. Water.

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Pull out weeds until the dandelion plants are established. After that they will look after themselves, although a little water in hot dry periods helps to keep them growing well.

Use young leaves from established plants to add to salads. They can also be cooked like spinach. The flowers should be harvested as they appear or left to re-seed themselves. Use roots when you have established a healthy dandelion patch.

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Dig around the plant carefully with a fork and ease the root out of the ground. Dandelion roots tend to be long and deep so will need to be carefully dug out to avoid damaging them. Choose a wet day or water the surrounding area first.