Interesting article thanks for posting. I've been wondering about sugaring my lawn and garden for some time. Tried it in one place and the following year got a rare mushroom called a phallus on the spot - coincidence? I wanted to quickly build my sometimes sandy sometimes calcified clay into a living soil and thought of the dark soil under the wild apple trees. This story reveals what the sugar is actually doing. I thought sugar would increase nitrogen and humus. That it would indirectly feed the worms but I worried about a yeasty over bloom. At one pound per yard without damage I see I can be very generous with the sugar. It strikes me as very useful. The microorganisms that fix nitrogen do so best in a low nitrogen environment. Therefore soil once treated can help nitrogen fixing plants and their fellow bacteria get back to work sequestering carbon. For myself I think I will try sweeting some compost tea + nitrogen because I want to get life deep into my ground. The real down side is sugar is the energy and inputs and subsidies that went into producing and transporting it. As far as weeds go - its the grass that is the weed. I have a grass that grows roots down more than a foot and infiltrates my perennials. With the exception of dandelions I like all the broad leaf plants in my lawn: johny jump ups, lupin, clover and crocus please.

Use boiling water to control weeds. Boiling water will kill any plant growth it touches. It is very inexpensive and simple to use. It is superb for killing annual weeds and can control and/or kill perennial weeds. It is a popular non-toxic means for killing weeds growing in cracks and driveways. "How do I use boiling water to kill weeds?" Simply boil up your kettle, grab the handle using a pot holder and bring it out to your garden. Once you take the kettle off the fire it's water temperature will drop a few degrees and cease to boil in the time it takes you to get out to the garden, but the water will still be extremely hot and will kill the weed growth by scalding it. Slowly and carefully pour the stream of water onto the crown of the weed plant. You can make this easier and more effective by cutting off the top growth of the plant before you dowse it with the kettle water. Pour the water from a low height of just a few inches above the plant crown to avoid any splashing. "Will some plants still resprout?" Some perennial plants with long taproots (such as dandelion) may resprout from the lower root area if it has not been scalded. In a lawn you can remove the top growth and dig a hole above the root....manually remove some of the root if possible. Pour the kettle water into the hole and it will seep down and kill whatever sections of the weed root it can reach. Refill the hole with soil and sow some grass seed right away so there is no bare spot where airborne weed seeds can take hold. If a weed resprouts in a sidewalk crack or driveway repeat the boiling water treatment. Each time the weed resprouts the growth will be smaller and weaker and the most stubborn perennial weeds will eventually die, usually after two or three treatments. "Does the boiling water also kill the biota in the soil?" Boiling water will kill whatever biota it touches, however, because the stream of kettle water is carefully and slowly poured onto a small area this effect is reduced. New biota will quickly return to the area within a few days. "What precautions should I take when using boiling water to kill weeds?" *Use a pot holder or hotmitt to hold the kettle handle to prevent burning your hand from the kettle's heat. *Pour the kettle water slowly and from a close height of a few inches above the plant crown to avoid splashing. *Wear long pants and closed-toe shoes. Shorts and sandals can't protect your skin if you accidentally splash the kettle water. Trudi

Vinegar is a penny-wise and environmentally-safe means for killing weeds. It is easy to use and will not harm the environment. Simply place some undiluted household vinegar in a mister/sprayer bottle and spritz weeds to saturate their leaves. Usually within 6 to 48 hours the plant growth will wither and die. Young seedlings less than two weeks old will be killed entirely, older weeds will have their top-growth killed but may still resprout from the roots. What is vinegar and how it it made? The word vinegar comes from two Latin words: *vinum* meaning wine and *acer* sour. Vinegar can be naturally made by the decaying of plant parts in anaerobic situations. Acetic acid (often called ethanoic acid) is created by the fermentation of alcohol. Common household vinegar has about a 5% acetic acid concentration and is prepared from grapes (wine), apples (cider), or grains (malt). Fermentation creates vinegar when sugars are converted into alcohol and carbon-dioxide....the alcohol reacts with air and specific bacteria to make vinegar. Concentrated acetic acid created by synthetic processes is not considered organic and is not used by the organic agricultural community. Vinegar (made from plant sources) with high acetic acid concentration created by distillation or freeze-evaporation process is deemed acceptable for organic garden use. Will the acetic acid in vinegar harm my soil? It can temporarily reduce the pH of soil but this effect typically lasts only a couple of days. Acetic acid rapidly breaks down in water and so for the best results do not spray weeds just before a storm. The rains will dilute the vinegar and greatly reduce its effectiveness. Is there some research data available on this? The United State Department of Agriculture is currently researching the use of vinegar as an organic herbicide at their research facility in Beltsville, Maryland. Results so far are very promising and have shown that using vinegars with 10, 15, or 20% acetic acid concentrations have had an 80 to 100% kill-rate with many common weeds. Common household vinegar (with a 5% acetic acid concentration) has successfully killed the top-growth of Canada Thistle, one of North America's most noxious and widely spread weeds. However, regrowth from the roots did occur. To achieve the best results in eliminating Canada thistle spray very young plants every couple of weeks with household vinegar (5%). Where can I buy high concentration acetic acid vinegar? Look for it at Farm Supply Stores. Vinegar sold specifically for Home-Canning purposes also has an acetic acid concentration higher than five percent. Do I need to use high acetic acid concentration vinegar for weed control on my home property? I don't want to use anything that is caustic. Young weeds will be killed by spraying with plain household vinegar (5%), older weeds may require some additional spraying for effective control. Wear protective clothing and eye shields while using high concentration vinegars. Skin irritation from contact, lung irritation from fumes, and very severe and permanently damaging eye irritation from splashes are all possible. This might also be helpful: Will boiling water kill weeds? Newspaper as weed control? Organic Gardening Forum

Vinegar controls thistle! Vinegar is a penny-wise and environmentally-safe means for killing weeds. It is easy to use and will not harm the environment. Simply place some undiluted household vinegar in a mister/sprayer bottle and spritz weeds to saturate their leaves. Usually within 6 to 48 hours the plant growth will wither and die. Young seedlings less than two weeks old will be killed entirely, older weeds will have their top-growth killed but may still resprout from the roots. "What is vinegar and how it it made?" The word vinegar comes from two Latin words: *vinum* meaning wine and *acer* sour. Vinegar can be naturally made by the decaying of plant parts in anaerobic situations. Acetic acid (often called ethanoic acid) is created by the fermentation of alcohol. Common household vinegar has about a 5% acetic acid concentration and is prepared from grapes (wine), apples (cider), or grains (malt). Fermentation creates vinegar when sugars are converted into alcohol and carbon-dioxide....the alcohol reacts with air and specific bacteria to make vinegar. Concentrated acetic acid created by synthetic processes is not considered organic and is not used by the organic agricultural community. Vinegar (made from plant sources) with high acetic acid concentration created by distillation or freeze-evaporation process is deemed acceptable for organic garden use. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "Will the acetic acid in vinegar harm my soil?" It can temporarily reduce the pH of soil but this effect typically lasts only a couple of days. Acetic acid rapidly breaks down in water and so for the best results do not spray weeds just before a storm. The rains will dilute the vinegar and greatly reduce it's effectiveness. ======================================== "Is there some research data available on this?" The United State Department of Agriculture is currently researching the use of vinegar as an organic herbicide at their research facility in Beltsville, Maryland. Results so far are very promising and have shown that using vinegars with 10, 15, or 20% acetic acid concentrations have had an 80 to 100% kill-rate with many common weeds. Common household vinegar (with a 5% acetic acid concentration) has successfully killed the top-growth of Canada Thistle, one of North America's most noxious and widely spread weeds. However, regrowth from the roots did occur. To achieve the best results in eliminating Canada thistle spray very young plants every couple of weeks with household vinegar (5%). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "Where can I buy high concentration acetic acid vinegar?" Look for it at Farm Supply Stores. Vinegar sold specifically for Home-Canning purposes also has an acetic acid concentration higher than five percent. ================================================== "Do I need to use high acetic acid concentration vinegar for weed control on my home property? I don't want to use anything that is caustic." Young weeds will be killed by spraying with plain household vinegar (5%), older weeds may require some additional spraying for effective control. Wear protective clothing and eye sheilds while using high concentration vinegars. Skin irritation from contact, lung irritation from fumes, and very severe and permanently damaging eye irritation from splashes are all possible.