You are absolutely right about Diatomaceous earth. It is a super thing to have around. We had a shade garden near one side of the house that became infested with snails/slugs. Diatomaceous earth solved the problem. You DO have to reapply after significant rain, but it’s great.
And guess what SUGAR does? It’s great for increasing the microbial content of the lawn, which can make it more difficult for some types of weeds. I discovered this when I was researching how to get rid of wild strawberry (which spreads like crazy and can infest any area via both its flower seeds and runners. It took hours of hand weeding (one small area at a time) to get rid of it....until I found this article: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Lawns-725/Wild-Strawberries-lawn.htm
My husband was chuckling when I decided to try a test patch of sugar on a VERY solid area of wild strawberry in a patch of lawn near the driveway. However, I am having the last laugh...and am fairly surprised as well. This really works! I have since used it on other areas and I have just about won my war with wild strawberry. And my husband is now a convert to sugar. :-D
I will read that and look into it. I’ve got some patches of weeds to deal with.
That reminds me.......I read that using a sugar solution for transplanting trees increases their survival rate.
I had to transplant a couple trees, one before I found out about the sugar and one after.
The first one has basically not grown in two years. The other one I used the sugar on never set back and is thriving.
Here’s a link to some information. IIRC the original research was done in England and I can’t find it now. Basically, sugar water provides the tree with enough sugar to promote root growth which the photosynthesis from the leaves does not do quickly enough. I seem to recall that it was only a few tablespoons per gallon of water. I did it several times with a weak solution rather than making a strong solution and overdoing it.
Sugar Helps Trees Survive
http://www.garden.org/subchannels/care/soil?q=show&id=2427
Some information from a garden forum....
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bonsai/msg0314445021240.html
I will definitely try the sugar. We have some really tenacious creeping crud that just takes over if not weeded constantly.
Thank you SPV for the sugar information. I’m going to try it. I have a patch of johnson grass, about 2 feet tall next to one of my raised gardens. I’ve been loath to use Roundup, because of plants in the garden.