Vinegar in The Gardenby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 08 Feb 2007 09:49 AM
I was first exposed to the idea of using vinegar for a garden when I lived in a small house on a lake in Connecticut. My neighbor grew the most beautiful roses. Every day he went out to care for them. One day, I noticed that he was spraying something on the rose bushes. I was very curious, since our houses relied on well water, and liquid chemicals of any sort for gardening were definitely prohibited. He told me that he was spraying vinegar on his roses. The vinegar, he said, kept the bugs at bay. "Bugs don't like the smell or the taste," he told me. Since that day, I've learned that vinegar can be very useful in a garden for a few different reasons. Yes, vinegar deters bugs that might eat your roses, but it also earns its keep in the garden in other ways. While we are on the subject of bugs, did you know that vinegar also keeps away ants? Spray vinegar around the perimeter of your house, especially around doors, windows and anywhere else you see ants gather. They will stay away. Pour some undiluted vinegar on the cracks between the bricks or stones on your walkway to kill the grass. Vinegar can also be used to kill weeds. Just make sure not to get any vinegar on surrounded grass, because as mentioned above, the vinegar will kill that, too. To freshen up your cut flowers, add two tablespoons of vinegar, along with a teaspoon of sugar to the water. This will help the flowers revive and make them last longer. Just as you can use vinegar to clean inside your house, you can also use it to tackle some of the tough gardening jobs, such as the salt and mineral build up that always seems to "grow" on cray pots. Just soak the pots in vinegar, and then rinse. Related Articles: Frugal Gardening: Make Your Own Seed-Starting Pots Frugal Gardening: Can You Use Store Bought Produce for Seeds? Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments KristyC4 (44) 08 Feb 2007 11:21 AMJust remember, undiluted vinegar (not the kind you can buy in a grocery store) is very strong - best to wear gloves while using it, and be sure to keep your hands away from your eyes! Community Tags gardening, plants, vinegar Discuss this article
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Vinegar has many uses for the garden. It is very frugal, and unlike those chemicals you can buy, very safe for the environment. 
