Question
Hi Charlotte,

Well, sadly, I found this site only after I put chemicals on my lawn. I would like to try the sugar method that you've suggested, it sounds like a fantastic idea and I'd really rather go chemical-free...but I just put "turf builder" on my lawn yesterday. (I watered it in pretty well, both yesterday and today.) How long should I wait until I can use the sugar? Can I use the sugar sooner if I keep watering the lawn a lot?

Also, I have two small flowerbeds in the front of my house. One has annuals, and the other has flowering ground cover (ajuga) that's not quite filled in yet. For weed control, I was going to put mulch around the annuals, but didn't want to mulch over the gaps between the ajuga (I've noticed in the past that it doesn't seem to grow well into areas covered by leaves, mulch, etc.). Would using sugar on these areas get rid of the weeds?

Thanks a lot!

Answer
Hi Lisa;
If you haven't oput chemical fertilizers on the flower beds, you could put the sugar there now, and water it in.
Organics will not stop grass from growing in your flower beds though, except fopr crabgrass, johnson grass, Dallis grass and other grassy weeds, that are true weeds.
Flooding the soil wth water will help flush the chemicals out of the soil. As soon as the chemicals is flushed, you could start your organic program./ Until the chemicals are out, it would do no good to apply the sugar, because ALL the sugar does is feed the micro-organisms. THEY do all the improving and enriching of the soil.
The sugar is just THEIR nourishment.
If you used horticultural soap and the watered deeply, and let it soak in well, and do it again about 2 or 3 times a week, for a couple of weeks, that horticultural soap should help wash out the chemicals.
Now, that is not something I have read or tried, but it just seems reasonable that it would help wash out the soil.
I don't know of anything you can use on the soil to neutralize the chemiclas.
Charlotte