Anybody casually seeing the photo of me spraying weeds might think 'What an idiot! No protection, not even gloves!' Well, I'm not too worried about it 'cause I'm spraying vinegar, and I don't wear gloves in the kitchen when I'm using it! Yes, vinegar can be a good weed-killing spray. I'm using pickling vinegar, which is slightly stronger than common vinegar. I'm using it largely because I had a big bottle left over from last years' canning and would rather start the new canning season with a fresh bottle!
Vinegar works by largely drying out the tops of the weeds. It works best in combination with strong sun, so I'm in a hurry to get it on because today is going to be an unusual (for May) +30 C (about 92 F). There may be rain Saturday, but hopefully the damage will be done and, for a minimal cost, I can always re-do the application. I've got about half vinegar, half water in my tank; the 4 liter bottle of vinegar made a little less than half a tank. That nicely soaked one side of my heavily infested driveway, about sixty feet, and a little bit on the other side. I like to walk backwards while I'm applying because the bees were quite happy in all the dandelion flowers so I try to scare them off as I move along. Vinegar would count as a non-selective weed-killer, which means it would damage any herbaceous perennial it touches, so I'd weeded out a strip along the perennial bed. You can also use a shield; something like a piece of cardboard that you hold between the perennials and the weeds, 'shielding' the good stuff from the spray. Vinegar will have little affect on woody plants' woody parts, but could damage the soft leafy growth.
I've included a 'before' picture, I'll keep you posted on the results! Have any of you tried vinegar as a weed-killer? I'd love to hear about your experiences, either here in the comments or on our Facebook page!
