Stop Weeds From Growing In Garden Gravel With An Easy Homemade Solution

Gravel is an essential part of creating a dry garden bed. These stunning gardens are perfect for drought tolerant plants that need good drainage. They aren't without their issues though. One major frustration gardeners with gravel landscaping often deal with is weeds popping up in their beds. While avoiding the common gravel landscaping mistake of not properly preparing your bed can help limit weeds somewhat, the pesky plants often still find their way in. Luckily, they can be handled with something you likely already have in your kitchen: Vinegar.

Also known as acetic acid, vinegar is surprisingly useful in the garden. Not only can you use vinegar as an insect spray, but it is also an impressive herbicide. On shelves, there are strong horticulture level products that are 20% acetic acid diluted in water, and the common kitchen product that only has about 5% acetic acid. While these horticultural vinegars are powerful, even the kind you use for cooking can handle many of common weeds that can pop up on your gravel garden, especially if you catch them when they are still young. 

Because your household cooking and cleaning vinegar isn't as strong as horticultural vinegar, you'll want to treat weeds as soon as you see them pop up. As long as they only have one or two leaves, the vinegar is likely to be effective, especially if you're dealing with annual weeds. Make sure you completely coat all the foliage in your vinegar spray. For some larger or more aggressive weeds you may also need to repeat the application a few times before the weeds finally die. 

Vinegar breaks down quickly, which can be both a positive and a negative. While this means that you may need multiple applications, it also means that it is unlikely to impact your soil health. For especially persistent weeds and perennial species, you may need to consider using a different type of herbicide. 

Even though you might not think of it as harmful, you should still take precautions to protect yourself and your landscaping when working with household vinegar. This acid can also burn desirable plants and even irritate your skin and eyes. To keep everything say, carefully target your weeds and avoid spraying on windy days to limit overspray. If you think a weed may be too close to one of your plants, opt to pull or dig the weed up instead. Truthfully, this is why vinegar is a great solution for garden gravel, where weeds are more likely to be isolated.