Question
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.


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

QUESTION: followup...that I thought of after I put in my question...

the Cedar mulch that you spread on the yard, does it cause a problem when mowing?   Right now, I don't have a lot of grass...mostly weeds again...I'm going to put in some St. Augustine and hopefully get it to spread good.   
 I have Gladiolus, astilbe, hosta, canna, phlox, peony, anemone, Dwarf holly and Silverado sage that are in the flower bed...And Irises.  Will the sugar be okay on them?  
thanks so much
have a good day
Barbara

Answer
Tjhe cedar bark mulch is marked that way.
You don't want the decorative cedar. It is too large and will damage your mower, but my hubby's mower is about 20 or more years old, and he has been mowing with the bark mulch on the lawn all that time.
It is small enough that it won't damage the block or anything like that. It will help to dull the blades over time.He sparpens the blades before the first mowing every year, because sharp blades leave the grass healthioer, and it looks nicer. Sometimes he goes a few years between shapenings, if I don't nag him.LOL
Charlotte
Sugar feeds the microbes that enrich the soil, so put it all over.
Alfalfa meal will help blooming plants especially.
You probably will have to go to a feed store to get alfalfa meal.
Nurseries that carry organic products have some things with alfalfa oin them, but what you want is lfalfa meal. It is just finely chopped alfalfa.
You just scatter some of it on and water it, or you can scratch it into the soil a little, or add a little of it when you add soil.
When I fill a container about 17 inches across the top, I put about 2 TBLSP alfalfa meal in with the potting soil.
To make a tea for foliar feeding, put 1 cup alfalfa meal in 5 gallons of water, let it steep overnight, stir and strain so the particles won't clog you sprayer, and foliar feed with that. Just spray the whole plant.
Don't throw away the dregs you strain out though, dump them on the grass or right into the flower beds.
Don't waste a bit of that rich nourishment.
Charlotte