The pain of every gardener whose beautiful garden is taken over by tiny insects and pests is unimaginable. To avoid this pain, it is important to repel these invaders from your gardening territory. Most gardeners will look for chemical pesticides and insect sprays. Some might call for home pest control services. But you might not know that a good solution is in your garden itself—the plants!
In this post, we are going to learn about the best plants you can have in your garden to repel pests naturally.
Basil
Basil is a common plant found in every household and garden. Basil effectively repels different types of insects, especially fruitflies and mosquitos. Basil leaves have a strong pungent smell that repels insects even without the need of crushing them. Basil contains four volatile compounds, namely citronella, estragole, nerolidol, and limonene. These compounds are highly effective against mosquitos. Most home pest control services also recommend having basil plants in gardens.
Lavender
Lavender is a beautiful and nice-smelling plant for humans, but insects hate it. Fleas, moths, flies, and mosquitos cannot survive around Lavender. The essential oils found in this plant are the reason for its pest-repelling ability. Grow lavenders in a sunny area of your garden. The more sunlight they get, the more essential oils they produce. Also, lavender is an easy-to-grow and maintain plant so you don’t have to look much after it.
Lemon Grass
Lemon or citronella grass is no doubt the most common mosquito-repellent plant. This is a tall and tropical variety of grass that repels mosquitoes and other pests due to its strong scent. Planting lemon grass plants at the boundary of your garden prevents mosquitoes and other flying insects from entering your garden. You can also create pest-repellent spray using lemongrass oil, one of the modern solutions for pest control. Spread this repellent spray in your garden once a day to keep pests out.
Marigolds
Marigold is a common flower in Indian households. It is widely used for decoration and ornamental purposes, but who might have thought that it can also help in pest control? Marigolds can repel a variety of pests, especially sap-sucking insects. Aphids, plant lice, rabbits, and mosquitoes avoid being near marigold plants. The Marigold is an annual plant that grows in bunches. Thus, there will be no shortage of Marigold plants in your garden. It will keep repelling pests forever.
Mint
Mint is a highly aromatic and flavourful herb that is commonly used for cooking. But these properties of mint also make it an effective pest repellent. Mint is a quickly growing herb. It can spread rapidly in your garden. Another good thing is that every part of the mint plant, like the stem, root, and leaves, has a strong smell. Thus, it repels all types of pests. Whether they live underground, on the surface, or are air-borne. It is also a reason why commercial pest control services use products with mint extracts.
Rosemary
Although Rosemary is not a common garden plant, having them can be highly effective for repelling pests. The strong characteristic smell of rosemary repels insects like fruitflies, ladybugs, mosquitoes, and drain flies. Rosemary grows best in hot and dry weather and requires less water. So you don’t need to take care of them a lot. You can grow it in pots or your garden’s soil bed. Rosemary also makes your garden look good with its colorful flowers.
Conclusion
Plants have endless benefits and uses for humans. One of them is that they are great at repelling pests and insects. If you are struggling to keep those irritating pests out of your garden, try to grow the plants that we mentioned. All these plants have pest-repelling abilities due to the natural essential oils found in them. Still, if you are unable to grow or maintain these plants, you can reach out to pest and termite control services to get rid of insects that are invading your garden.
That’s all from us, Happy gardening!
