Enjoying your garden in the summer is the best. Lounging on your garden sofa or bench, reading a good book, maybe cracking open an icy cold IPA or enjoying some wine with friends… it’s truly delicious.
But wait, what’s that? You notice your plants are crawling with aphids, spiders and green flies. Your beds are being taken over with weeds. In fact, it feels like you’ve just pulled a weed out and two more have grown back. Ugh.
Thankfully there are some chemical-free ways to treat pesky problems in the garden. These weedkiller-free treatments can help protect wildlife and the other thriving plants you want to keep alive.
The best natural insect and weed killers that are hiding in your kitchen cupboard
1. Vinegar
Not the malt or chip shop kind, but standard white vinegar will help kill weeds in your garden without spreading harmful chemicals.
It can also help combat slugs, snails, ants, flies, and you can mix with dish soap to help it stick better.
2. Boiling water
One quick way to instantly rid yourself of pesky weeds is to pour boiling water on them and kill them at the root.
This gardening TikTok creator shared what happened over the course of 24 hours after using boiled water on his weeds and whew — the difference! Obviously you’ll still need to pull the dead bits up, though.
3. Neem oil
The oil from the natural herb neem is really effective in getting rid of insects invading your vegetable garden and plants.
Mix with water and spray the oil on foliage in the morning or evening when important bugs like butterflies and bees aren’t pollinating, and avoid using in the middle of the day when the heat from the sun can heat the oil and burn the foliage.
4. Vegetable oil
To fight aphids and beetles damaging your plants, try plain ol’ vegetable oil. Mixing with dish soap helps coat the insects’ bodies and banishes them from your lovely garden.
Mix one tablespoon of dish soap with one cup of vegetable oil, then add two tablespoons of this mix to a spray bottle full of water and drench your plants.
5. Garlic
TikTok gardening fanatic Sally has shared a super-easy yet effective way to get rid of aphids, beetles and more in the garden — garlic spray!
She simply adds garlic cloves (don’t worry about peeling the skin off) to a blender and then, after blending, will strain to get rid of the clumps. Then, add water, decant into a spray bottle and start spraying your affected leaves and plants!
“Most garden pests don’t like garlic,” she explains. “So, this should be enough to keep them away.”