Remember that irritation when you hear those mosquitoes buzzing or spot those flies flying around in your homes? (Yeahh.. I feel you!) There are so many different products available to repel these insects but none of them are without some side effects. Those chemicals can also cause certain type of allergies in many people. The sprays contain many harmful substances which can damage the environment too. So, it’s high time that we shift to some natural methods of repelling these bugs. Here is a list of plants which will repel mosquitoes. Remember to keep them near windows, doors, curtains or corners of the house where they can be found in bunch.
This plant is an excellent herb which is full of nutrition and antioxidants. But there is more to the picture than we can see. This plant acts as an excellent mosquito repellent too. It has an aroma which is soothing for us and toxic for the mosquitoes and bugs so it will drive them away. Furthermore, this herb has the capacity to refrain mosquitoes from laying eggs in water. So place them near any kind of water body in your garden or home to avoid mosquitos.
As the name suggests, this plant is loved by cats but is a strong hater of mosquitoes and bugs. It has a chemical called as nepetalactone which is a strong insect repellant.
Garlic has a pungent smell we all know that. Not just the cloves, even the leaves of garlic plants have that smell. Growing garlic in your garden will serve your kitchen as well as repel mosquitoes too. You can even crush the cloves and rub the juice on your clothes or curtains to repel bugs away.
This plant is beautiful to look at and smells very pleasant along with driving mosquitoes away. Lavender has a typical aroma which keeps the insects and mosquitoes at bay.
Members of lemon grass family and lemon grass itself contains citral as an essential oil. This oil has the capacity to repel insects and mosquitoes. It also used in many commercial products.
This grass is used for preparing many different kinds of perfumes and other cosmetics from its essential oils. These essential oils are an excellent mosquito and insect repellant too. So, keeping them in your house would drive them away. In fact, they are so powerful that these essential oils are used in commercial industry-based mosquito repellents too.
These flowering plants are great addition for hedges and boundaries. They have strong scent which drives away mosquitoes. In fact, you can even grow them in pots and keep them near doors and windows and they would do their job. Studies have shown that growing marigold around your kitchen garden will save your vegetables from insect attacks as they repel aphids, thrips, whiteflies etc. which are carriers of many different disease causing microbes.
This herb is used mostly for making chutneys and refreshing drinks in summer. Its aroma is soothing and refreshing for us but at the same time unbearable by the bugs and mosquitoes. You can even pluck the leaves, crush it and place them in a bowl for repelling bugs and mosquitoes.
This plant is recommended by the New York botanical garden for the purpose of repelling mosquitoes. You can grow it in your kitchen garden too as it will keep harmful insects away from your cabbage and carrot plants. You can also toss this herb in fire to drive away bugs through its aroma.
This plant is commonly known as the Mosquito Repellant plant. There are no hardcore evidences that it does the job better than others but what’s the harm in trying? So grow some in pots or along the outer boundaries of your garden to repel those nasty creatures.
This plant produces beautiful purple flowers which adds a colourful touch to your garden along with repelling mosquitoes. These purple beauties have a fragrance loved by birds but hated by mosquitoes. Although they are not that powerful as repellants but they will do a pretty good job.
This plant is perfect for driving away bugs and mosquitoes if you are fond of camping or bonfires in your backyard. Throw some leaves of this plant in a bonfire and as they burn, they produce a typical earthy smell which keeps the bugs away. You can even dry the leaves and use them as a bug repellent in your home.
To conclude, all these plants can be easily grown in your garden or in pots and would provide dual benefits. One, they will make your garden more diversified & happening, and two, they will drive away unwanted bugs and insects, especially mosquitoes. So, instead of using chemicals which may harm you and environment too, use some natural methods like insect and mosquito repellant plants.
Happy Gardening!
Written by
Antra Thada