Question
i have been reading alot about putting sugar on your lawn. sick of being disapointed in lawn care companys. I am thinking of trying this. my question is what about the tiny ants that i use to get in my house every spring. won't this draw them back? I have 2000 sq/ft of lawn how much sugar are we talking about and how often should i put it down. i live in kansas city missouri so it gets very humid here will that be a factor in this. also i have a huge brown spot in my back yard. we have had lots of rain this year and we have seen mushrooms in the yard so I expect this is a fungus.I have also read recently to use baking soda and water. true? if so what are the ratios. thanks for your help

Answer
Sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening, sugar at sup-per time... ever hear that song?  McGuire Sisters, 1957 -- my little Sister Eileen carried the nickname 'Sugarplum' and still responds to the call for 'Shug!' when her father calls her.  This is as far as the Sugar Story goes.  Absolutely, positively under NO circumstances WHAT SO EVER must you put Sugar on your Grass.

Let me repeat....

Under NO circumstances should you put Sugar on the Grass.

Have I made that perfectly clear?

This myth about Sugar is a M-Y-T-H MYTH!!!!!

There is no truth to it and it is hogwash.  Plain and simple and scientific HOGWASH.

Now, you have a problem.  Let's solve your problem.  Forget the Sugar.  OK?  Please.  It's a waste of money and will not fix anything.

What can you do about your problems?

Let's try to figure them out, one by one.

1. YOU WANT A BEAUTIFUL LAWN.  You are tired of the Lawn Care Company bills and disappointed with the results.  O.K.  I can help you with that.

It all begins with your Soil.

Please see my speech on 'Organic gardening 101' for the basics:

www.helium.com/items/974413-organic-gardening-101

Earthworms and Compost are 2 of the keys to making your Soil just right for growing a beautiful Lawn.  You can't grow first rate Grass without first rate Soil, dear.  And first rate Soil has NO CHEMICALS in it!  Lawn Care Companies have NO CLUE how to do that.  That little essay condenses all those details into a few clear, easy steps.

2.  YOU HAVE A HUGE BROWN SPOT IN THE LAWN.  Mushrooms are another symptom.  You think it's a Fungus.

I agree.

This is what happens when people use Chemicals.  Or, in your case, what happens when a Lawn Care Company uses Chemicals.

If treat your Lawn with things that upset the Balance of Nature in your Soil, you wipe all natural Fungus controls off the map.

Fungus is like Mildew and Mold in the house.

If you go into your living room, you probably don't have any Mildew problem.  Right?

And why is that?

Is it because you spray Mildew Killer By Scotts all over the house?

No!

The reason you don't have Mildew in the living room is because Mildew doesn't grow in the living room.  We both know it's in the air, all the time, ready to strike.

Which is why you can take a wet towel after a shower and leave it on the floor for 4 or 5 days, and grow LOTS of Mildew.  

To get rid of it, you don't go out and buy Scotts Mildew Search-And-Destroy.  You hang up the towel.  Mildew problem solved.

Right?

Same thing goes for Grass.

There are gazillions of Fungus species there RIGHT NOW, sitting in my Lawn, your Lawn, the Lawn down the block, all over the place EVERYwhere.  But we know the world is not being attacked by Fungus.

Why not?

Because Fungus needs certain temperatures to grow, lots of moisture to grow, darkness to grow, and freedom from competitors and predators.  There are natural controls out there that destroy Fungi.  Unless you wipe them out.  Which you or your Lawn Care Professionals do with Herbicides.  Pesticides.  And Fungicides.

But if you stop JUST ONE of those other things, NO FUNGUS can survive.  It will just lie around doing nothing.

So if you dry out your Soil, the Fungus will die.

If you warm up, or cool off, the soil, the Fungus will die.

If it's sunny 24 hours a day, the Fungus will die.

Simple!

Yes, it sounds like you have a Fungus problem.  We don't know which one, and if you want, we can go into the problem in detail and identify which Fungus or Fungi you have.  But we can stop it from spreading by drying out your Soil AND not putting any more Weed killer on the Grass AND maybe if it is a REALLY serious problem at this point you can introduce a SECRET WEAPON.

The Anti-Fungus!

But that's only a last resort.

By the way, this is why people who don't take are of their grass NEVER have a Fungus problem.  They leave the Weedkiller on the shelf in the garage or they don't buy it at all.  They don't kill the natural controls that keep Fungus, and many other problems, from taking over the world.

I don't think you'll have to worry about this too long.  It's hot there in Missouri; charts say you hit over 100 degrees 2 days ago.  No rain.  But LOTS of Humidity.  Stop watering the Grass.  Rake the mushrooms.  When the Fungus is gone, they'll be gone, too.  These are both common problems.

Your followups welcome and thank you for writing.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER