To help you enjoy going outdoors, try strategically placing insect-repelling plants in your garden or on your patio. Essential oils in these plants act as nature’s bug repellent. Insects tend to avoid them. You can even use some of these plants to make your own natural bug repellent.
1. Lavender
Repels moths, fleas, flies and mosquitoes. Lavender has been used for centuries to add a pleasantly sweet fragrance to homes and clothes drawers. Although people love the smell of lavender, mosquitoes, flies and other unwanted insects hate it. Place tied bouquets in your home to help keep flies outdoors.
2.Mint
Repels mosquitoes. Mint is best grown in pots rather than the ground because it spreads aggressively. Once established in the garden, it can be difficult to remove. Cuttings of mint in mulch can help broccoli, cabbage and turnips. The aromatic properties found in the leaves are also present in the stems and flowers. Containers of mint strategically placed in the garden or on the patio will help keep nearby plants insect free.
3.Sage
Sage is a perennial plant that can be grown in planters on a patio or planted into landscaped beds. You can make a bug repellant spray using sage. Try this recipe from SFGate, which incorporates rosemary, mint and apple cider vinegar.
4.Basil
Repels house flies and mosquitoes. Plant basil in containers by your house doors and in outdoor areas where you like to relax or entertain. Basil also improves the flavors of certain vegetables, include tomatoes, peppers and asparagus. You also can use fresh basil to make an insect repellent spray.
A simple recipe calls for pouring 4 ounces of boiling water into a container holding 4 to 6 ounces of clean, fresh basil leaves (stems can be attached), letting the leaves steep for several hours, removing the leaves and squeezing all of the leaves’ moisture into the mixture. Then thoroughly mix 4 ounces of (cheap!) vodka with the basil-water mixture. Store in the refrigerator and apply as a spray when going outdoors. Be sure to keep the spray away from your eyes, nose and mouth.
5.Rosemary
Repels mosquitoes and a variety of insects harmful to vegetable plants. Rosemary is available in various forms. Plants can be grown in containers on a patio and shaped into ornamental pyramids, grown in herb gardens or planted in landscaped beds, where some varieties can grow quite large. Rosemary’s oils are unpleasant to many insects. The plant itself and its cuttings are effective repellents.
You can make a simple repellent spray by boiling 1 quart of dried rosemary in a quart of water for 20 to 30 minutes and then straining the liquid into a container at least a half-gallon in size that contains a quart of cool water. Put a cap on the combined liquid and store it in the refrigerator. Add the repellent to small squirt bottles as needed when going outdoors. Discard the remaining repellent in the refrigerator when it no longer has a strong telltale smell of rosemary.
6.Pitcher plants
Trap and ingest insects. Pitcher plants are the largest group of carnivorous plants. These exotic-looking plants lure insects into their “pitcher,” actually a specialized leaf, through a combination of nectar, fragrance and color. Once inside the pitcher, the insect finds itself on a slippery surface with downward-facing hairs. The insect then either slips or falls into a pool of water.
Once in the water, it drowns or dies of exhaustion in trying to escape, which is impossible because of the downward-facing hairs. The plant then digests the insect. Insects that most often fall prey to North American pitcher plants are ants, flies, wasps, bees, beetles, slugs and snails. Pitcher plants, which grow in bogs in the wild, need a sunny area that stays moist, generally a difficult combination for home gardeners. Growing them in pots sitting in a saucer of water is easier. However, don’t keep the growing medium too wet. It just needs to be moist.
7.Petunias
Repel aphids, tomato hornworms, asparagus beetles, leafhoppers and squash bugs. They’re popular mostly because they are available in a variety of bright colors, require such minimal maintenance they are almost foolproof to grow and can be grown in garden beds, containers or hanging baskets. Plant them in sunny areas near vegetables and herbs such as beans, tomatoes, peppers and basil.
8.Marigolds
The scent from various types of marigolds repels aphids, mosquitoes and even rabbits. The roots of marigolds are well-known among farmers to repel nematodes, though those qualities require a year to take effect. They have even been proven to repel whiteflies away from tomato plants, according to a study published in 2019 in PLOS One by Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences. Researchers discovered that marigolds release limonene, which slows down whiteflies when they are flying around tomato plants.
9.Geraniums
Geraniums can repel leafhoppers and other types of insects. One type of geranium, Pelargonium citrosum, is known as the Mosquito Repellent Plant. When in bloom, they have pretty flowers with a lemon-like fragrance that can help keep bugs at bay. These plants grow fast and like sunny, dry climates. Plant them in flower beds or vegetable gardens.
10.Alliums
Plants in the Allium family, such as Allium giganteum which has flower heads that adorn stalks up to 6 feet tall, are regarded as a broad-spectrum natural insecticide. They repel numerous insects that plague vegetable gardens, including slugs, aphids, carrot flies and cabbage worms.
Plants that will benefit from the proximity of alliums include tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi and carrots. They also will keep aphids off rose bushes. Alliums include small-growing herbs such as chives and garlic chives, leeks and shallots.
11.Chrysanthemums
Repel roaches, ants, Japanese beetles, ticks, silverfish, lice, fleas, bedbugs, spider mites, harlequin bugs and root-knot nematodes. The ingredient in chrysanthemums that makes them so effective as an insect-repelling companion plant is pyrethrum. Because pyrethrums can kill flying and jumping insects, they are used in America’s most commonly available home and garden insecticide and are frequently used in indoor sprays, pet shampoos and aerosol bombs. Although chrysanthemum flowers can be used to make an insecticidal spray, pyrethrum can be carcinogenic to humans and care should be taken in using them in this form. Make sure you understand the risks.
12.Catnip
Though catnip is an herb, it’s one that people usually don’t eat. It’s a member of the mint family. It contains a chemical called nepetalactone, which attracts cats but repels insects such as mosquitos, flies, deer ticks and cockroaches. Catnip plants are relatively easy to grow. You can plant from seeds or as plants outdoors in the spring or fall. It grows to 3 or 4 feet tall and blooms small lavender flowers. Be careful, however, as catnip can become invasive and take over your garden.
Source: www.mnn.com
