Question
QUESTION: Will ants keep grass from growing in my yard?
We moved into our house 2 years ago. At that time, the front/back yards were completely overrun by weeds and ants. Our soil is somewhat sandy so we opted to lay sod. In the past two years I have watched my grass slowly wither and die. I can 'peel' sod up like peeling an orange. I'm not sure if it is due to the ants, type of sod laid, the sandy soil or a perfect storm of the three.

ANSWER: The answer here depends on where you live, my friend.  Please tell me what part of the country you are writing from -- a nearby city, your zipcode, something that will narrow it down.  Thanks for writing and rsvp!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I live in Washington, DC. Coincidentally, my girlfriend just attended a conference where on of the guest speakers was from Orkin. She described the ants to him and he said they sounded like 'Pharaoh' ants. I'm not sure if she misheard him say fire ants. All are red-orange in color, ranging from less than 1/16 to 1/4 of in inch in length.

Answer
Pharoah Ants -- 'Monomorium pharaonis ' -- the Western Exterminator Company gets calls about getting rid of these from homeowners in California, Arizona and Nevada.  Western Ex describes Pharoahs as 'pale Yellow to Red' with a nearly Black abdomen.  They say nothing about them surviving in outdoor Garden Soil or in Cool Season Grass territory.  'They cannot survive the Winter in much of the U.S.; however, they do overwinter in Florida and Hawaii. Indoors they can survive year round.'

For the whole Western Ex pitch:

http://www.west-ext.com/pharaoh_ant.html

The National Park Service website includes a section on Ants on its website, and says 'Thief Ants' are often confused with Pharoahs.  'To distinguish the two, it is necessary to look at the antennae.  Pharaoh Ants have 12 segments with a 3-segmented club on the end, while thief ants have 10 segments with a 2-segmented club.'

Ants in the Washington, DC, region were the focus of a project by Dr Daniel Kjar, who studied 'ants, alien and native plants, and ant sampling methods in a U.S. National Park' for his doctoral dissertation at Georgetown University.  Dr Kjar's report on 'Ants of the Washington, D.C. Area' is part of 'The Biodiversity Database of the Washingon, D.C. Area', published on the internet:

http://biodiversity.georgetown.edu/searchfiles/infosearch.cfm?view=all&IDNumber=

Now, if you look at that website, it states that there are 131 species of Ants in the Washington, D.C. region.  And they list ALL 131 of them.  3 are in the Monomorium genus:  Monomorium minimum, the 'Little Black Ant'.  Monomorium pergandei, the 'Inquiline Ant' (Wikipedia defines an Inquiline as 'an animal that lives commensally in the nest, burrow, or dwelling place of an animal of another species'.)  And Monomorium viridum, described by Discover Magazine's article as 'the tiny, sneaky thief Ant, which survives by raiding the broods of other Ant species.' (See 'The Secret Life of Ants': http://discovermagazine.com/2003/nov/the-secret-life-of-ants/article_view?b_star)

Not a single one named Monomorium pharaonis.

And none, not even M. pharaonis, is implicated in the destruction of the American Lawn.  Some Ants ARE insect pests -- not because they eat Grass, but because their tunnels and mounds under and over it can be ugly, interfere with Mowing.  But they are rarely extreme enough to be considered disruptive in their underground activities.  Many are helpful carnivores, preying on Termites, Wasps and other less friendly Ants as well as Lawn-damaging insects.

Bottom Line: It is highly unlikely this Ant species you have isolated is harming your Lawn.  If not, then what is?

Let's look back at how you prepared your Soil for the Sod you laid.  Or not.

Sandy soil is great for drainage.  And the advantages end there.  Sandy Soil is missing almost ALL the nutrients that Grass needs to grow in it.

But the BIGGEST problem with Sandy Soil is its lousy Cation Exchange Capacity.  Sandy Soil simply CANNOT hold any nutrients around your Lawn's roots.  Almost ALL the fertilizer you put on Grass you want to grow in Sandy Soil just washes right through.  Not in 5 minutes.  Not even in 30 seconds.  AS YOU WATER IT IN!

You are not the first person to believe that Sod would take care of this problem.  The thin quantity of Soil you actually get when you install a roll of Sod can hold very little nutritional value.  Sod always needs a Soil bed to dig its roots into.  A Soil Test would have produced a detailed shopping list of exactly what you were missing and what you needed to add.

Let's start over here.

Tell me what kind of Grass you were trying to grow.  (It should not be limited to the local Sod Farm Special -- Sandy Soil is not going to grow Plain Vanilla Grass.)

Meantime, my friend, it is time for you and your family to start a Compost Pile.

Start today.

Any dead Sod pieces you can peel off should be a terrific beginning to your new Compost Pile.  Later, dead and dieing leaves and occasionally shredded Grass from Mowing can go in there.  Your leftover Orange Juice, your used Coffee Grounds, spoiled Tomatoes and leftover uncooked Carrots, frozen Peas past expiration (unsalted and nonseasoned), Tea leaves, Watermelon Rinds, you name it, if it's Vegetable it's Compost.

Something else you can do: Head over to your local Garden Center and before they run out of the Season's supply of Aged Compost and Manure and Humus (NOT TOPSOIL), get enough bags that you can spread them a full 2 inches thick.  You did not mention your plot size or I would do the math for you.  But you get the idea.  Your Sandy Soil needs Organic Matter like there's no tomorrow.  THIS is what you needed more than Sod.  THIS is what your Grass needed to grow thick, lush, and Green.

All is not lost.  This is a new beginning.  And you will need to get a Soil test.  I will be happy to direct you to your local Cooperative Extension for this very reasonably priced service by Soil Scientists, your tax dollars at work.

Any comments or questions, please ask.  Thanks for writing.  Keep in touch and rsvp at your leisure.