How to Use Vinegar for the Garden

There are a number of safe, frugal, natural ways to use white distilled vinegar in your gardening both outdoors and indoors. Not only is it a natural, healthy alternative to pesticides and other harmful chemicals, but it is also an incredibly inexpensive product to use.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Kill weeds and unwanted grass with undiluted, full-strength vinegar. Simply spray the vinegar on your weeds or the unwanted grass. Be very careful not to spray it on any surrounding grass or plant that you want to keep. This is very useful in getting rid of grass and weeds that may be growing in cracks in your sidewalk or driveway.

2. Get rid of pests and unwanted animals with white vinegar:
   *Keep ants at bay. Spray some vinegar in the area you want to keep the ants away from. Pour white vinegar into anthills to get rid of them.
   *Kill slugs. Make a solution of 1 cup white distilled vinegar and 1 cup water and spray this on any slugs in your garden to get rid of them.
   *Trap Moths. Pour 1 cup white distilled vinegar and ½ cup molasses into an open can, stir to mix them thoroughly and hang the can in a tree or from the eaves of your house.
   *Prevent rabbits from dining on your plants. Soak a few cotton balls in some white vinegar and put them into a container that has a cap. Cover the container and poke a hole into the cap. Place the container in the garden, where the smell of the vinegar will help keep rabbits away.

3. Clean and sanitize with vinegar:
   *Scrub your birdbath and hummingbird feeder with full strength white vinegar and rinse well as soap tends to leave behind some harmful residue.
   *Clean up your plastic patio furniture using a solution of two tablespoons of white distilled vinegar in one gallon of water.
   *Sanitize picnic tables and other outdoor and camping furniture with a sponge or cloth that you have soaked in white vinegar.

4. Eliminate rust and mineral deposits:
   *Get rid of rust. If you have a rusty on a spigot, screw or tool, soak it in full-strength, white distilled vinegar overnight or for a number of days.
   *Remove mineral deposits from the pump of your outdoor fountain by soaking it in full-strength white distilled vinegar overnight.
   *Eliminate the white mineral deposits on your flower pots by soaking them for at least an hour in a solution of one part white distilled vinegar and one part water.