There are many chemical based pesticides and fertilizers on the market which are not only expensive they are also harmful for the environment and your health. So, if you are looking for more environmentally friendly options when it comes to taking care of your garden consider vinegar.

White distilled vinegar will provide many safe and natural ways to protect and improve your garden and gardening tools. Vinegar is cheap, easily available and harmless for you, your family and your garden.

Here are 10 Uses of Vinegar in the Garden

  1. Deter cats and pests

Rodents, moles, dogs, cats, and rabbits hate the smell of vinegar. So, if your neighbor’s cat loves your garden or any sand pit you have for your children, just spray pure white vinegar around the area, and you will never ever see a cat near your home.

Try soaking old clothes in vinegar, and hanging it on stakes around the garden. Add more vinegar after every rain.

2. Repel Ants

If you have problems with ants use vinegar to get rid of them because vinegar acts as an organic insecticide. Apply full-strength vinegar to the places where you’ve seen ants and they will run away. Reapply every few days to make sure they’ll stay far away for good.

3. Remove weeds

Spray pure white vinegar on your walls or walkways to get rid of weeds. Your garden will look neat and awesome.

4. Clean Rust from Garden Tools

Clean your rusted tools with undiluted vinegar. Spay some vinegar on your tools or dip them in undiluted vinegar and leave them for a few minutes allowing the vinegar to do its job. Then rinse and clean the tools.

5. Deter fruit flies

Save your fruit crops from the fruit flies, make a bait using vinegar. For this, you’ll need a cup of water, half a cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tbsp of molasses. Mix it all together and put that solution in an empty container or tin can and hang it on affected fruit tree you’ll see how it will attract and trap them. The similar solution can be used for houseflies too.

6. Kill slugs and snails

White vinegar will keep slugs and snails away from your garden which is why its gardeners’ favorite “anti-snail” product.

7. Extend the Life of Cut Flowers

Make your cut flowers last a little longer by making your own feed for them. Mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar in one-quart vase of water. Then trim the stems of the flowers. Change the solution every 5 days or sooner if necessary.

8. Refresh acid loving plants

White vinegar will make your rhododendrons, gardenias or azaleas happy. Add a cup of vinegar to a gallon of water, and water these plants. You will be amazed of their growth.

9. Seed germination

Use white vinegar to germinate seeds. You can also use it on okra, asparagus, moonflowers, glories, and other seeds that don’t germinate easily.

10. Clean Clay Pots

Clay pots keep the soil moist enough but never too soggy and they protect plant roots from overheating in the summer. Their red colour is very attractive and gives nice look to our gardens. However, with time, clay pots absorb minerals, calcium and salt from the water and the fertilizers and that make them look ugly. You can use vinegar to give them back their colour. Do the following procedure:

  • Remove crusty residues from the pots using any kind of scrub brush.
  • Once you brush away the superficial soil, dip the pot in a 20 to 25 percent vinegar solution (add a cup of 5% acidity white vinegar in 3 or 4 cups of water) for 20 to 30 minutes.
  • For really tough residues, like those around the rim of the pot, use some undiluted vinegar to clean them up.