I have spent aged digging up daisies from the lawn and reseeding small areas at a time. Now daisies are coming up all over the lawn again and are coming up in the flower beds. Their roots go quite deep and I do make sure I get it all from each plant, I'm not sure if they spread by roots or flowers, I have tried strimming the flowers off but literally in 2 days they are back. I started digging them up on the lawn last summer but now a large part of the lawn is all daisies and no grass! Help!

You don't like them???!!!
Personally, If I could grow a nice daisy lawn... I'd be thrilled!!!

I think the smart thing is to recognize that a monoculture of turf is a pointless endeavor, and settle for growing a 'freedom' lawn.

Maybe research the edibility of daisies?

But, but that wasn't the question! Shaelgrenyer asked how to get rid of them.

Shaelgreyer, Could you post photos of the offending daisies? If we know what you are dealing with, maybe someone will have a suggestion.

English daisies (Bellis perennis) are invasive here too.

I have no idea what products are available in the UK, but here people use "weed and feed" on lawns, which kills the broad-leaved weeds, but not the grass. Generally I don't like the idea of this, but it is very widely accepted and used.

edit: don't get it too close to the flower beds!

A very basic breakdown of your options are: poisoning or digging. Compromise might work; leave them in the lawn, dig them from the flower beds, but they'll keep spreading.

This UK lawn guy gives advice re poison vs digging, and also recommends making changes to you lawn care regimen
https://www.joeslawncare.co.uk...

This UK turf care company takes a very deep dive into the subject. Maybe you can find some helpful pointers here
https://turfworld.co.uk/master...

The more plants growing in your lawn, the more biodiverse and wildlife-friendly it will be

https://www.rhs.org.uk/lawns/w...

https://www.bbc.com/future/art...

To me a lawn without lawn daisies might as well be a carpet. They are incredibly well adapted. If you're prepared to be digging them out for ever keep going, but I would learn to embrace them.

Have you tried fire? I had a neighbor that used a small torch to burn weeds, he swore it worked. If you kept it up over time it may control them a good deal. Also I'm not a pro but I'd say that if you kept the blooms picked off -don't allow them to seed, they will die out because the individual plants only live a couple years-biennial I think. That may be easier than digging each one up. I assume 'lawn' means you mow them off though? Yes weed and feed may the best option if you are dealing with a large area. If it's a smaller area, you may try using a paint brush to apply herbicide to each plant that way you don't get it where you don't need it.

I have the same "problem" with Mouse Eared Chickweed. It's getting to spread everywhere in the lawn. For the first couple of years, I dug it out. But that only slowed it down.

Also, I am getting old enough to where the thought of getting down and grubbing out some random plant in my random garden just because I have some random standard seems foolish. I take Stone's perspective: live with it.

The thing about this forum is, people come in with these "problems" and everyone jumps to help them "solve" it, with some sort of technical advice.

Gardening is a state of mind. There's no one right way to do it. Standards are set by our society and we feel we have to measure up - come hell or high water.

I hope this forum will, along with all the technical advice thrown around, give some thought to why do we even do what we do, and why do we get so upset when things go "wrong" - when gardening could be a joy, with standards we make up as we go along.

So yeah, I did not address the question per se. But I did address the problem.

What is a problem for one person, another person may consider acceptable. There is nothing wrong with either. Everyone here jumps to solve it, because that's the purpose of asking for help- to solve it. I ask for help with an issue because that is the standard I want in my garden. I don't ask to be told, your standard is wrong, just learn to like it. Standards in your garden do not have to be set by society or by others who consider it not a problem. If having daisies in your lawn and your flower beds is not your standard, then you want them gone.

I too have a huge multi-species weed problem in my gardens, especially in my lily beds. A suggestion I would make is if you do dig out plants such as the irises make sure you use a nozzle to give the roots a hard shot of water to remove the "hiding" weed seeds concealed in creases and roots before replanting. Otherwise a new or rehabbed area for transplanting could quickly get contaminated and then it is back to square one.

I'm not being judgmental here. I realize natural is not to everyone's liking. But I don't actually have a lawn....so I encourage whatever wildflowers that want to grow in my yard. They are wonderful for the natural pollinators