While bees will love to spend some time with the marigolds in your garden, mosquitoes will prefer to stay away from them as much as possible. That’s because the flowers produce pyrethrum, which is a substance used in many commercial repellents. While you’re planting an array of edible plants in your garden, it might be a good idea to opt for some fennel as well. Research Gate explains that just like other fragrant plants, fennel is a natural mosquito repellent. You may know that citronella keeps mosquitoes away since plenty of candles with repellent powers contain it. Well, simply growing the plant won’t do it, HGTVexplained.
- The plants can be used as a fragrant smudge, which is known to be quite an effective mosquito repellent.
- I should have had one of these hanging in a pot around my waste while out at the playground with my kids.
- It’s easy to grow this herb, and it has beautiful flowers and foliage.
- They will know the most effective, safest way to eliminate the spider problem, and make recommendations about keeping them away in the future.
- According to this traditional rule-of-thumb, there is scientific evidence to support it.
The crushed leaves of this perennial produce a distinctive citrus or lemony aroma. They can get out of control if planted in your yard and should be confined to pots or containers. These beautiful, sun-loving flowers are often grown by farmers as companion plants to keep pests out of the vegetable patch . The ingredients in marigolds, known as tagetone and limonene, keep bugs, aphids and mosquitoes away. Although citronella and lemongrass are relatives and look similar, both have different properties. Citronella oil is used to make mosquito repellents, household disinfectants, perfumes, soaps, and deodorants.
Citronella Geraniums
Furthermore, apart from smallfarmcentral repelling mosquitoes, these fluffy flowers also look great as groundcovers. It is easy to grow and has properties similar to the repellent citronella. Further, it has an intense smell that confuses mosquitoes.
Citronella Plant Citronella Winterianus
Growing basilis not only a great companion plant for tomatoes, its subtle peppery, slightly sweet aroma can also be used to deter pests. By pouring a half a cup of boiling water over a generous cup of fresh leaves you can create your own mosquito repellent. Once steeped for three to four hours, add a half a cup of vodka. Pour the strained liquid into a spray bottle for easy application. Related to mint, lemon balm has a citrusy smell that mosquitoes abhor. Its leaves, allowed to dry, can be brewed into a wonderfully lemon-tasting herb tea that helps induce sleep.
Learn How To Keep Mosquitoes Away With These 10 Secrets
It can help if you crush the leaves gently in your fingers to release their essential oils. Unlike its well-known relative, the common sage , the flowering sage is not edible, but an attractive ornamental perennial. Its very aromatic scented leaves and flowers are heavily attracted to bees, bumblebees and butterflies. The other advantage is that its fragrance deters mosquitoes and other flying pests.
This plant is rather large, but it can still do well in containers. It’s low maintenance, so you don’t have to do too much work to keep away the mosquitoes. Watch out for frost because this plant will die if the temperatures drop too low. Pets might also destroy a well-maintained garden with digging and romping, so it’s best to try and keep them away from plants. Discourage your pets from playing in your garden, especially if you cultivate poisonous plants. They may eat and ingest poisonous plant leaves, meaning a trip to the veterinarian.
You can plant a few pennyroyal plants close to the main gathering area of your outdoor space, like a seating area. If you can’t find pennyroyal, mint plants, in general, are very effective against mosquitoes, including peppermint. Lemon balm contains a compound called citronellal, which has an effect similar to the mosquito repellent citronella. The lemony scent of lemon balm is also one that mosquitoes don’t love, which makes it a perfect addition to your mosquito-repellent plant collection. Juan J. Rocha, vice president of DynaTrap, suggests caution when planting lemon balm in the garden, though, because of its invasive properties.