Vinegar & Soap Weed Killer
This winter while I was looking on the internet for gardening tips getting ready for spring I kept seeing people mention using vinegar as a weed killer so I thought that I would try it out. After reading about various solutions I decided to try a vinegar and soap mixture and use it on my patio since it apparently kills indiscriminately and that is one place that I never want plants to be growing. 
I bought a jar of white vinegar from the grocery store and put three squirts of dish soap in it. I stirred it up and attached a squirt nozzle from an empty bottle of cleaner that I had saved. With the soap now in the vinegar I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't confuse it with edible vinegar so I used a sharpie to clearly mark "Weed Killer" over the vinegar label.
Armed with my spray bottle I set to work spritzing the weeds poking up out of the cracks between my patio pavers. After letting things sit for a day the weeds didn't look much different so I tried pouring small amounts of the vinegar solution on them. This did the trick and after a day my weeds were all dead. With a power wash I think that the patio will look ready for summer. I'm ready to try this on my pesky sidewalk weeds now but I think I may try adding a bit more soap and maybe some salt to see if that works better.
What tips or tricks do you have for killing weeds? Any good suggestions? I need some good ideas for spot weed killers in my lawn.
Friday, April 13, 2012 at 6:40AM | Posted by Lisa | 4 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article 
Reader Comments (4)
I have not tried this home remedy. I have used Weed b Gone in the past. Ummm need to try the more naturally friendly way of getting rid of weeds. I have tried home remedies to get rid of insects - nothing worked on the nasty horrible red beetle attacking my lilies - it was all out warfare and in the end I used Safer's Soap and hand picking, crushing.
Mary-Lou- That sounds like a tone of work to keep those red beetles at bay! I've been pretty lucky about not having insect pests but the bunnies and squirrels love to munch on things in my garden, unfortunately.
We are currently investigating ways to keep the squirrels out of our lettuce patch. So far, we have been unsuccessful. The suggestion that we're going to try next is to simply put a bowl of water by the plants. The theory is that the squirrels are eating the vegetables because they are thirsty and the plants provide hydration. Maybe it really is that simple; we'll see.
Sandy- That is a fabulous idea! I am totally going to have to try it. Long term I want to build a little fence around my garden, but it isn't at the top of my very long to do list right now.