Top 8 Mosquito Repellent Plants for Your Huntsville Landscape
With such a mild winter in North Alabama, we are sure to have an abundance of pests flying around this summer. Did you know some common plants that grow well in Huntsville and North Alabama can do a lot to help naturally repel mosquitoes, spiders and other pests? Anytime you can keep the mosquitoes away naturally, it is safer for you and your family. Take some time to add the plants listed below to your gardens and flower beds and you might help avoid insect bites and could potentially avoid the West Nile virus or heartworms for your pets.
- Lemon Thyme – Here is one of your best bets when it comes to plants that repel mosquitoes. It has 62% of the repellency of DEET which is the most common compound used in commercial insect repellents.
- Catnip –This herb repels both the mosquito and the cockroach. If fact it has roughly ten times more mosquito repellency than DEET.
- Citronella Grass – Citronella Grass is the source of the well-known Citronella oil that is used in a number of commercial insect repellent products.
- Marigolds – To get the mosquito repelling properties that you are looking for from your marigolds they must be the African or French variety.
- Basil – This herb is not only wonderful to cook with but it is a repellent of mosquitoes and flies.
- Sage – This herb repels flies, moths, and beetles as well.
- Rosemary – It is commonly known to repel fleas and mosquitoes.
- Geraniums –It is also commonly called the mosquito plant and is sold as a repellent. One problem with this geranium is that it is poisonous so it is not recommended for those with pets or young kids.
If you would rather not get in the garden yourself, give Southern Scape a call and we can do the work for you and spruce up your landscaping. And if you don’t want to do either, just wear some light colored clothes and avoid being outside during the hours around dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are out in abundance.