I saw a glimpse of something over my evening news about all the great uses of White Vinegar. And I am sure like most of you my Mother used it on our windows but what I thought I heard suprised me. I recently cut down some " red Tips " Aka Finnea Sp ? Trees and some weeds and planted a flower bed. I have a rose hedge, Lillies, bleeding heart, Day lillies, Shasta Daisies and a few others.. The obnoxuious weeds are poking back up after I for 3 weeks in a row used Roundup before I laid down my mulch and planted. I think I heard the lady say that actually White vinegar ( not dilluted ) was excellent for the flowers and will also take care of weeds. Can anyone verify this before I go vinegar crazy ??? Thanks :-)

 

Vinegar is reported as being effective on weeks. It will, however, kill flowers, too. Unless you used a pre-emergent weed killer in your beds, chances are you will have weeds. The most effective weed killer is yanking them out by the roots. Mulching tends to deter the growth of weeds in flower beds and also helps conserve moisture and shade for the roots.

 

Hi Sienna,

Yes, it will kill weeds and plants, but it also adds acid to your soil. You don't want that unless you have acid loving plants. I would hesitate to use it as a fertilizer. It's my opinion that it's safer to stay with something with specific instructions as to the dilution rate, etc. Save the vinegar for the windows. I can vouch that it does a great job.

I agree with Twelvepole. Since you're plants are growing, you could pull your weeds and use Preen or Preen 'n Green. I've had good results with both of those. Then mulch as he suggests. OR you could use Round Up if you are very careful about not spraying your flowers. I personally feel that pulling weeds and mulching is the best and safest way to eradicate your gardens of weeds. Keep at the weeds and you will eventually win the battle.

http://www.allthingsfrugal.com/vinegar.htm

There could be somebody out there who has used vinegar with good results. I heard recently that someone killed a rhodo by feeding it vinegar.

Gami

 

Thanks alot ! I have been doing alot of weeding but I am afraid it is getting ahead of me. I did mulch but I have the oriental lillies and the Glads that are coming up so I have been afraid to walk around them to pull weeds or even spray anything on them. I did walk around and spot spray and seemed to not really hurt anything but weeds but some are just too close to the plants. Well I guess I have my weekend planned for me. Thanks for all your great help :-)

Also. My husband has owned this house for a few years before I came along. Since I have been working outside quite a bit I have removed some things and re landscaped. I have fallen in love with a cute petite tree up against the house and have shaped it accordingly. For the first time it has started to bloom this past week. I believe it to be a white lilac though so far it doesn't fit into my book where Syrigua is portrayed. any suggestions ? The leaves are dark green and narrow with a sharp point a vein up the middle and the flowers are about the size of a hands length with groups of white flowers ( light fragrance )

 

I would bet that you hava a species of privet (Ligustrum sp.) Since you said you had red tips, I bet you live in the south? Ligustrum is all over here, people use it as a hedge or as a specimen plant. The flowers look like very small white lilac flowers.

Take a leaf and hold it up to the light (with the light behind it). If you can see the veins glow yellow, it is probably L. lucidulum. If they are dark, it is probably L. japonicum. If the leaves are very small, it is probably L. sinense. There are a few others, too, but these 3 are very common.

Note that both L. sinense and L. lucidulum can escape into the wild - they are carried by birds. L. sinense is a horrible problem in the south - it displeaces a LOT of the native vegetation, in both wetlands and dry areas, and shades out everything under it. L. lucidulum isn't quite as bad, but I've noticed that it can really displace other plants, esp. in moist areas. If I had this plant, and I wanted to keep it, I'd be sure to cut off the spent flowers before they go to seed, as the birds really spread it around.

 

Leu,


Thank you so much ( although I am quite disappointed ) But I think you were right. I seem to have L. lucidulum. At least that makes more since. and yes. I am new to the south ( virginia Beach ) I am originally from Alaska so some of these plants have me stumped. I look forward to using your knowledge to better mine. I have a really great book that I refrence quite alot called " Western Garden Book " I have found it really interesting and full of information. It has the Privet on there and a pic and it seems to match up more then the lilac. Although I don't remember the berry part but will watch for it this fall and will cut them off and keep this tree trimed. (or replace it with Wysteria )

 

Before you replace it with Wisteria, you should know that most commonly available Wisteria species are also terrible pests in the south, even more so that Ligustrum lucidulum. Watch for them in the spring - they literally cover some areas of the roadsides like kudzu.

There is a native one, though - Wisteria fruitescens, Zone 7 was able to purchase one over the internet I think; I'm not sure what quality it was when it came. It is much less rampant here.

Do a search for "Wisteria" in this forum - there were a few people trying to figure out how to get rid of it!

It's funny - I'm from Massachusetts - a lot of plants we grew up there without thinking about it are terrible pests down here where the weather is more mild. I've also discovered that some of the other plants we are used to growing up there often fail here because it is too hot in the summer - like lilacs.

If your interested - there is a great book on native plants for the south - I think it's titled "Gardening with Native Plants of the South", by Sally Wazowski. There are so many plants from this region that are overlooked, and many are really quite stunning! The book is set up like any other gardening book, with culture and care for each species, along with color photos, and what kind of setting they grow best in. The nice thing is that the plants profiled are specially adapted to this climate.

Have fun!

 

Thank you so much for your information. I will go check out that book :-)