Naturally Repel Pests with Garden Herbs

Herbs like citronella, lemongrass, rosemary, basil, lavender, and peppermint are believed to keep insects away. There are numerous ways to use these herbs to ward off insects and rodents. You can have a natural bug repellant around your home by planting them in your garden. Another method is to dry and crush the leaves to create a skin-applyable natural insect repellant. As a natural mosquito repellent, you can also apply a carrier oil containing these herbs’ essential oils to your skin. Finally, you can use the extracts from these herbs to create an insect spray. However, it’s important to note that even though certain plants have been utilized historically there isn’t much scientific data to support the effectiveness of using this method to ward against pests.

• The most popular herb for deterring insects is citronella. A lot of candles and bug sprays contain citronella oil mainly because it repels mosquitoes, ticks, and flies.

• Lemongrass: This herb has a Strong citrus aroma that deters mosquitoes, ticks, lice, flies and other insects and includes citronella.

• Rosemary: This herb’s potent, woodsy aroma keeps away mosquitoes, roaches, spiders and other flying bugs away.
  
  

• Basil: This herb’s powerful aroma keeps away flies, mosquitos, asparagus beetles, and other insects away.
  
  

• Lavender: This herb’s calming aroma keeps mosquitoes, fleas, moths, and flies away.

• Peppermint: This herb has a powerful, minty aroma that keeps many insects and critters at bay such as spiders, fleas, lice, beetles, caterpillars, flies, mosquitoes, mice, ants, and more.

Did you Know?

The United Nations is calling for stricter international regulation of compounds designed to manage pests or weeds for plant production, noting that over 200,000 people globally die every year due to hazardous exposure to chemical pesticides.

You can use these herbs in a variety of ways to repel bugs, such as, planting them in your garden or drying and crushing the leaves to make a natural bug repellent. Also, adding these herbs to a carrier oil, applying it to your skin or making a bug spray with the extracts of these herbs are great options. Now that you have a good basic understanding of herbal repellants, you may want to get your herbs growing and pest solutions planned out.