Question
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Hi,

My condolensces to your husband's emergency,I wish you and him a speedy recovery. I know this must be a stressful time for you,my father has had bypass surgery and numerous surgeries for cancer. My prayers are w/ your family.

Okay, I like the idea of sugar but I have a few concerns. One, being they have a few problems with ants and I fear the sugar will entice an army of ants to cover the yard. I believe the ground is somewhat sandy and there is clay rather close to the topsoil. Otherwise everything is okay.

Thanks again,
tony


Followup To
Question -
I have been giving the job of riding my folks apt. complex of weeds. I don't want to yank them out by hand-i have a slight hernia. I don't want to use pesticides either,what can i do?
Answer -
Hi Tony;
I used to have weeds too, no more. Haven't seen a weed grow in my yard for years now.
Weeds like poor soil. They will not thrive in rich soil.
Make rich soil, and weeds will not grow.
Fertilizers do not enrich the soil. They feed what is growing in the soil, and they wear out, and get washed out with the watering and rain.
Fertilizers also kill benificial microbes that enrich the soil. Putting dry molasses on the soil will keep these microbes alive.
If you can't get dry molasses, plain table sugar will work as well.
I personally like using sugar better. It is as effective as the dry molasses, easier to buy. I get it when I shop for groceries, and don't have to make a trip to the nursery.
When
I first tried it, it was time for spring feeding. I had scads of dandelions, crabgrass, johnson grass, dollar weed, chickweed and other weeds. I use the sugar at the rate of 1 pound per 250 to 300 sq.ft. I hadn't bought fertilizer, I just put down the sugar. I didn't dig out weeds, as I usually did (bad back was acting up) In a couple of weeks, about half the weeds were just gone. In a couple of weeks, more weeds were gone. I put down more sugar, and a couple of weeks, no weeds were to be seen.
I put down sugar but no fertilizer in the fall.
Weeds came up the next spring, but not nearly as many as the year before. I did sugar in the spring and fall.
About the third year after I started putting down sugar, no weeds came up. My neighbor's weedfilled yard that always seeded mine, was still full of weeds, but my yard was rich enough the seeds didn't even come up, at least not far enough to show above the grass. I have had a weed free yard ever since.
If you still need to fertilize, put it down, then put down the sugar and water it all in together, this will keep most of those microbes alive.
These microbes work the year round, fertilizing the soil.
Earthworms will also help by keeping the soil aerated, and feeding the soil with their droppings.
Make sure your soil is loose enough. If it has too much clay or too much sand, you need to add some things to make it right. If this is a problem, let me know and I will tell you some things that will help.
We top dress with top soil every spring .that we make by composting.Don't rake the grass clippings. Let them fall and stay to compost and feed the soil.
Watering properly and mowing properly is as necessary as anything else, maybe moreso.
In the spring we set the mower blades at 2 inches. This shorter cutting helps the grass grow thicker when you have a type of grass that spreads by runners, like Burmuda, St. Augustine etc.
When the temp reaches the middle 80s, we set the blades at 3 inches. The taller blades of grass provide some shade to the soil, to keep the roots a little cooler and minimize heat damage.
I always water to a depth of at least 6 inches to encourage a deep root system. A deep root system helps protect from heat, cold and drought damage.
I rewater when the top 2 inches of the soil are dry.
Shallow watering makes the roots come close to the surface to get water, so they are more easily damaged or killed by heat and cold.
Hope this helps.
I apologize for being so slow in answering. My
husband recently had emergency surgery, and these last two weeks have been mayhem.
Things have gotten a little back to normal now.
Feel free to write me any time you feel I can help.
Charlotte

Answer
Hi Tony;
Thank you for your prayers and kind words.
We will add your father to our prayers, and pray for his recover.
These are such trying times for a family. You have to just try to be positive, do your crying and worrying when your loved one isn't around to see, and pray all the time.
We have such a strong support system from our children and extended family, and that is so important in times like these.
I will also pray that you have the strength you need to help you through this.

Ants;
Nope doesn't bring ants because you water it in well.
The best repellant for fire ants is chopped orange peels. Orange oil is the main ingredient in effective fire ant killers, and prevention.
When it is time for fire ants to swarm, I buy a big bag of oranges, have the grandchildren over, and they eat oranges , I chop the peels into small pieces, and they scatter them all over the yard. They make a nice, fire ant free yard to play in when they visit.The youngest that participates now is a 3 year old. He likes to help too.
I chop lemon peels and scatter them in my flower beds to keep cats from using them for a litter box.
I do NOT like the surprises they leave, when I am diggig to plant new plants.
Now, either the orange peels or the lemon peels also keep the small black ants away. We don't have the big red ants in our area,so I don't know if it would work on them.
To keep ants from entering through windows and door sills,sqweeze a trail of lemon juice across it.
Soooo, maybe it is the lemon peels.
One of them works, because I never see ants anymore.
If you put down the sugar and didn't water it in well, Methinks you would attract ants, flies and a bunch more things you don't want.
Cgarlotte