Pest Control Community

Before you plan out next year’s perennial beds, consider planting some strong-smelling herbs in and around other tender plants that would otherwise be targeted or destroyed by damaging pests.  While it is known that many perennial and annual plants attract beneficial insects to the garden, some are just as useful in planting to prevent other, less desireable pests. 

Natural repellant plants such as peppermint, thyme, rosemary and lavender posses strong oils that many insects don’t like.  Catnip (akin to the mint family) is also known in the gardening world to repel mosquitoes, ants, and japanese beetles - but beware of furry, 4-legged visitors.

Encourage beneficial insects in the garden by incorporating sunflowers, mint and aster families (coneflowers, daisies, coreopsis, yarrow) - of which may attract predatory wasps and parasitoid flies such as hover flies.  Hover flies (or syrphid flies) are one of only a few insects known to feed primarily upon nectar and digest pollen but will also feed on the honeydew of aphids. 

TAGS: beneficial insects, repel mosquitoes, pests, natural repellant plants, predatory wasps