Edmonton laying out plan to battle dandelions in continued war against the weed

The city of Edmonton will release information Thursday morning about its plan to combat dandelions in parks and open spaces this year.

In April, the city said it tendered to purchase 48,000 litres of an iron-based herbicide, iron chelate, to ward off dandelion-covered sports fields.

READ MORE: Edmonton issues tender to help rid sports fields of dandelions

City spokesperson Catherine Kuehne said iron chelate is one of the lowest-risk herbicides because it dries quickly, doesn’t have a strong odour, doesn’t leave a chemical residue on the grass and poses negligible health or environmental risks.

Iron chelate is five times more expensive than the conventional 2,4-D-type herbicides included in a 2015 city council policy banning the use of herbicides for aesthetic purposes.

Kuehne said the public tender will allow the city to award the contract “to the most cost-effective supplier who also meets our specifications within this competition.”

READ MORE: City councillors attempting to tackle amount of dandelions: ‘is this how we want public turf to look?’

In recent years, the city’s sports fields were overrun with the weed. Last year, city officials said a perfect storm of a wet spring combined with hot, sunny weather resulted in a severe problem on sports fields.

It created a firestorm of frustration and criticism from city councillors and residents about the condition of fields and open spaces caused by the weed.

Last December, city council agreed to spend $3 million more on turf maintenance for its sports fields: an extra $1 million to bring back the iron chelate and $2 million on mowing more often.

Open space operations general supervisor Travis Kennedy will be providing details Thursday about the city’s plan.

— More to come…