I have a problem…I tend to get a little overzealous and excited, want instant gratification and maaaaaayybe cut corners just so I can get something done. All so I can step back and marvel at my completed project. Sometimes my short cuts come back to bite me. This happened in the early stages of my Potager. I didn’t necessarily do things “wrong”. I was just so anxious to get my pea gravel and wood chips laid I didn’t go through all the prep work that I could have done to prevent weeds from popping up. Live and learn.
Fact: you may think that several inches of pea gravel and/or wood chips will keep any grass or weeds from popping up, but sadly it does not! I laid my pretty gravel and woodchips, and within a matter of merely a week the grass and weeds crept their way through to say hello. I needed a solution to my problem. An organic way to kill the grass and weeds running rampant through my walkways and along the outside of my beds. Something that could kill some pretty thick and stubborn unwanted greenery, that wasn’t Roundup. Once again, vinegar to the rescue!!! This incredibly easy and highly effective solution has completely eradicated anything and everything that I have sprayed it on with only one application. It is amazing, and I can’t shut up about how fantastic it works. So please, ditch the Roundup, buy yourself some vinegar, and destroy those unwanted weeds and grass that are plaguing your beautiful garden the organic way. Read on.
The Solution
The solution is an incredibly simple mixture of high concentrated vinegar (not the regular white distilled grocery store stuff) and a few pumps of dish soap. That’s it! The dish soap helps the vinegar adhere and coat whatever you’re spraying it on. I use this vinegar, a 30% solution. I tried the grocery store stuff and it just isn’t strong enough. It will eventually die after several applications but at that point you’re going through vinegar like crazy and it just isn’t worth it. And on the real thick stuff, forget it. Trust me on this, higher concentration = more potent.
That’s all there is to it it! You can dilute if you’d like, but that will decrease potency and may require multiple applications. I go for the straight vinegar. I have heard people add salt, but we are a course salt household. No way that’s gonna work round’ these parts. So, take your spray bottle and fill it up with your high concentrated vinegar, add a few pumps of liquid dish soap, give it a gentle shake and that’s it! Spray on, and watch those weeds shrivel up and die! Well, not watch but yes you will see results pretty dang fast. After a few days, I left the dead weeds in my wood chip walkways because they blended right in, but pulled out the dead grass/weeds around the borders of my stone beds as well as what was growing through my wattle fence. Why didn’t I just do that before and not spray you ask? I would have ended up pulling out a ton of dirt, which could literally cause my rock beds to fall apart. This way, I preserved the dirt that is acting as a foundation in a lot of places while removing the pesky and unsightly grass and weeds.
Spraying Tips
- I have to say it again, use the high concentrated vinegar! (** FYI I am not endorsed by, receiving compensation, etc for recommending this vinegar. Knowledge is power, and I want to share mine! If you find another brand, awesome. This is just what I found on Amazon Prime that was 30% concentrate)
- Plan on spraying when you have at least a day (preferably more) in the forecast without rain. You want the vinegar to stay on the weeds as long as possible to absorb and do its thing. You don’t want it to rain on your parade.
- Give it a heavy dose of spray, but you don’t need to completely saturate it to the point of dripping. Which brings me to:
- This stuff kills!!!!! Seriously, it will kill anything you spray it on. So use extreme caution when spraying near vegetables, flowers, etc. If it’s windy, maybe it would be best to not spray at that point. It’s always windy here, so I used a piece of cardboard to block my plants from any potential overspray of the vinegar.
- I have heard that this will prevent anything from growing in the spot you sprayed in the future. Because I can’t attest to this yet from personal experience, I can only urge you to be cautious about what and where you spray. For instance, I use it in my walkways and on the weeds growing right around my beds. I would never spray it on weeds creeping up in my flower bed because I may want to put a flower there next year! I still hand weed those babies.
- If you are going to pull the weeds once they are dead make sure they are very brown and dead first where it will break off at ground level so you don’t pull up soil in the process.
That’s all there is to it folks. Organic doesn’t have to equate to expensive or ineffective. This stuff really and truly works! My Potager is looking top notch and there isn’t a single unsightly weed thanks to this stuff. Give it a try and you will be amazed as well. Happy Gardening!
