gardening: Destroy weeds: Hands off salt and vinegar

 Some hobby gardeners use salt and vinegar to kill weeds on paved paths and driveways. 

Legally speaking, this is a grey area - but it is definitely not recommended.

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Anyone who destroys weeds with herbicides they produce themselves is in breach of the Plant Protection Act

weed control with salt and vinegar is extremely controversial 

in gardener circles - and in Oldenburg it even occupied the courts: 

an amateur gardener from Brake had used a mixture of water, 

vinegar essence and table salt to combat the algae on his 

garage driveway and on the sidewalk leading to the entrance to his house. 

Due to an announcement the case landed before court and the district court 

Oldenburg condemned the hobby gardner to a fine of 150 euro. 

The court classified the self-mixed preparation as a regular weed killer 

(herbicide) and its use is prohibited on sealed surfaces.

Fighting weeds with salt and vinegar: This must be observed

Even mixed household remedies of salt and vinegar should not be used for weed control. 

According to the plant protection law, only plant protection agents that are 

approved for the specific area of application may be used. 

Therefore, only use products from specialist dealers that have been tested and approved.

The condemned man filed an appeal on points of law 

and got justice in the second instance: 

The Higher Regional Court in Oldenburg shared the view of the defendant that 

the herbicide produced from food itself was not a herbicide 

in the sense of the Plant Protection Act. 

Therefore the application on sealed surfaces is not forbidden in principle.

Home remedies for weed killing: violation of "good professional practice

Despite this far-reaching ruling, the Plant Protection Office 

of the Chamber of Agriculture of Lower Saxony, 

on the other hand, points out that the use of such substances as herbicides 

on so-called non-cultivated land is to be classified as illegal under §3 of the Plant Protection Act, 

as it violates "good professional practice in plant protection". 

The Plant Protection Act generally prohibits the use of all preparations 

which do not have a license as plant protection products but which may harm other organisms. 

Even if this is not comprehensible in the eyes of many hobby gardeners, 

the regulation has good reasons, because especially the so-called household 

remedies are often much more harmful to the environment than most users suspect. 

Even vinegar and especially salt are not recommended household remedies 

for weed control - neither on sealed surfaces nor on overgrown soil.

Is salt suitable against weeds?

If you want to destroy the weeds in your garden with common salt, 

you need a highly concentrated solution to achieve a sufficient effect. 

The salt deposits on the leaves and dries them out by drawing 

water out of the cells through so-called osmosis. 

The same effect also occurs with over-fertilization: 

it causes the root hairs to dry up because they can no longer absorb water. 

In contrast to conventional fertilizers, 

sodium chloride is only needed by most plants in extremely small quantities. 

When used regularly, it accumulates in the soil, 

making it unsuitable in the long term for salt-sensitive plants such as strawberries or rhododendrons.

Weed control: The best methods

There are many ways to control weeds. 

Whether chopping, starving or using chemicals - every type of weed control has its advantages and disadvantages. Read more

Can weeds be destroyed with vinegar?

Although acetic acid is more environmentally friendly as a weed killer than common salt, 

it is not completely harmless. Depending on its concentration, 

it can damage plants and soil life. 

In addition, regular applications cause the soil to acidify 

over time - a process that needs to be counteracted with lime. 

Anyone who wants to use acetic acid to destroy weeds should therefore 

not make their own herbicide from vinegar essence and water, 

but should use a herbicide based on acetic acid from specialist dealers. 

These preparations have not only been tested and approved as plant protection products, 

but also have a precisely defined concentration to ensure optimum efficiency 

while causing the least possible damage to other organisms.