Question
Hi CJ,  Here is what I read about using sugar to kill lavender in grass by Expert: Charlotte B - 3/18/2007.  I read it on this same site.  After reading this are you still inclined to say sugar won't work?  Thanks, Pam

Question
Good morning, I was looking online for info about a good ground cover and found your answer about Asian Jasmine and will check on it...sounds like what I want.  
But While I was reading the article, I found that you use Sugar on your lawn... How much sugar do you put on?  I am overrun with weeks and want something that will help get rid of them while getting my lawn to grow and look nice.  Also...is the sugar good to put on my perennial beds, Holly bush and Silverado sage?  Also,  How did you get rid of the fire ants.? I'm constantly fighting them and they move to other locations in the yard.. I sure would like to eliminate them.   
I know I'm going crazy with the questions, But I saw also you found some herbs that will keep the spiders, roaches and all out of your house...  What kind of herbs are good for these. I'm all for anything that will keep these horrible bugs out of my house.  I would love to know what herbs to get to control these pests.  
I live in Mesquite...Southeast of Dallas...

thank you so much  
Answer:
Hi Barbara;
Sugar does absolutely nothing but nourish the beneficial microbes that DO work round the clock enriching anf improving the soil.
Weeds don't thrive in rich soi, so when they come up, they start dieing out right away.
I works on anything, anywhere in the world, because it is those microibes that do the work.
The only disadvantage I found to the sugar is, wild violets used to grow in my yard, and they are a weedf, even though I think they are beautiful, and after I went on the organic program, and put down the sugar and watered it in, all my wild violets died out.
I have dug them up from my neighbor's yard, and transplanted them in my soil, but they die out right away.
I sure don't miss the dandelions, crabgradd and other weeds!
I use 4 to 5 pounds per 1000 sq,ft.
I use it in early spring and fall, and if we have heat in the 100+ range for a couple weeks or more ( which is a lot here in north Texas).
Water deeply, to a depth of at least 6 inches.
Wen they top 3 or 4 inches of soil are dry, there is still some moisture down where the roots are. This helps keep your lawn green through the hot months.
Shallow watering makes the roots come close to the surface to get water, and that is what causes thatch.
On an porganic program, the eatherworms and other tunneling insects keep your awn aerated.
Cockroaches normally live in the soil, and are beneficial. they tunnel and help aerate, and feed off other harmful insects.
I can't abide them in my house though.
I grow fresh rosemary, and I put a piece about an inch long on each cupboard and pantry shelf, a little longer piece under each appliance, bathroom vanities, l;aundry room, everywhere roaches can come in and/or hide.
We use pesticides in the yard, and that kills off the insects they would normally feed on, so they come into our houses to get food and to hide from the pesticides.
I have millions of them in my soil, outside.
They can just stay there.
I am sure they are on the food chain for my lizards etc too. LOL
You have to go all organic or all chemical though.
If you use any chemical fertilizers weedkillers or oesticides, fungicides etc, it will completely cancel out your organics.
After you apply sugar and water it in well, you should see fewer weeds after each mowing, starting in just a couple of weeks.
Next spring, some will come back, but fewer that this year, and they will start to die out sooner.

Sweet basil and lavender are also good herbs to use in the house, and if you have dogs, pennyroyal for fleas and ticks. Cats cannot be around pennyroyal in the house. It is highly toxic to cats.
Cedar bark mulch all over the yard, and a trail of it about 3 or 4 inches wide and an inch or two high around the foundation of the house will protect against termites.
Cedar also repels fleas and ticks, and a lot of other insects.
Write me anytime you feel you have a question I can help with.
Charlotte


PS;
For the fire ants, peels oranges and chop the peels into small pieces, ands scatter them all over the yard. They will chase the fire ants away in a matter of hours.
Orange oil is the main ingredient in effective fire ant controls.
After being on the orgainc program long enough to get a good herd of lizards and other lawn critters, they will eat the fire an\ts all, and you will only have to do the orange peels for a couple of years or so.


Answer
Boy oh boy, this is a tough one to answer, if only because I'm the type of person to always seek a conciliatory tone with whomever I am disagreeing. Unfortunately, this is one of the times I just cannot find that tone.

Please understand that Allexperts is a site where folks like me volunteer our time. It's a service that I support fully, but it has its downside. The site managers cannot truly put us through the meat grinder when deciding whether or not we qualify as true experts. We're not getting paid a dime, so who would want to go through a long approval process if they have no chance of getting paid for their efforts? Allexperts would not be able to offer this service if they didn't necessarily need to trust that the qualifications we present are true and accurate. I presented true qualifications for myself and they accepted that I was being honest.

Here's where I take off the gloves. I highly doubt that "Charlotte" truly has any background or qualifications in this field or in anything like this. Her statements are laughably incorrect and horribly misleading. I can't help but imagine some lonely person laughing as he/she thinks of new ways to mislead people by offering fake services via the Internet. Though I have no proof of this, that's what I imagine Charlotte to be. Let me take just a few of her quotes to task. Please note the the copious misspellings and grammatical errors are hers, not mine.

Quote: "Sugar does absolutely nothing but nourish the beneficial microbes that DO work round the clock enriching anf improving the soil."

Truth: All studies have shown that the effect she refers to is so short lived, that it has no long term benefits, and may actually be more harmful in the long run.

Quote: "Weeds don't thrive in rich soi, so when they come up, they start dieing out right away."

Truth: This statement is so patently false that it's hard to know where to start. It's the typical misunderstanding that you might expect from someone who knows almost nothing about soil or plants. Weeds are simply plants. It just so happens that the plants we do not like in a given area, we call "weeds." There is nothing scientifically that classifies a plant as a weed. It is purely an aesthetic judgment. That said, why would a specific plant die off in rich healthy soil simply because we don't like it? While some plants can tolerate poor soils better than others, all plants will thrive and benefit from richer, healthier soils. The fact that we might not like the look of a plant (which is what defines it as a weed) does not change this fact.

Quote: "We use pesticides in the yard, and that kills off the insects they would normally feed on, so they come into our houses to get food and to hide from the pesticides."

Truth: "Once again, this is laughable. Cockroaches have been an inside problem since long before pesticides were ever widely used."

Quote: "Shallow watering makes the roots come close to the surface to get water, and that is what causes thatch."

Truth: An outdated theory that was disproved many years ago coupled with an outright misunderstanding. Roots grow when they have what they need. They grow deeper and get stronger when the weather is good and they have water. Shallow watering doesn't cause the roots to come back up to the surface. There are already roots there that can use that water. Thatch is an accumulation of rhizomes and stolons produced by specific varieties of grass. It is not a pile up of roots near the surface due to shallow watering. It is not leftover grass clippings from your mower. This is "Grass 101," clearly a class Charlotte never took.

I could actually write a book on this, but I think you get the point. In closing, let's take a look at new words our friend Charlotte has introduced us to in this article alone. Keep in mind, before we send an answer, there's a simple "spell check" button that would detect any and all of these errors.

soi, dieing, microibes, anf, weedf, crabgradd, Wen, porganic, eatherworms, l;aundry, awn, oesticides, orgainc, ant/s.

Good luck with everything Pam. I sincerely apologize that decent folks like you are put in a tough position, where you are receiving conflicting advice from the same source. Perhaps the site administrators here can look into this further. I'll send them a request to do so.

Take care,
-C.J. Brown