Everything may seem in order at home. Each room looks tidy enough and regularly kept, but maybe not when you watch closer. You look at the kitchen, and fruit flies are hovering on the table and trash. You open your closet, and there go cockroaches or spiders scrambling to hide from your sight. Maybe even bedbugs already made a home in your mattress or couch. No one wants these uninvited guests, but they can be everywhere, and they sure aren’t welcome.
If some pests are already at large in your home, you can call companies specializing in pest management, such as mosquito and tick control services. For less costly options, you can turn readily available ingredients at home into an instant remedy. But you can also choose to buy pesticides for an effective solution. If you want to keep them out of your home when all is done, then certain plants can help.
There are certain kinds of plants with scents and other elements that pests hate. Maybe you already have them in your garden. If you do, bring them inside your home and see for yourself how they’d continue to scare those pests away and keep them under control. It turns out some herbs aren’t just for cooking or home decor; they’re also used as insect repellent. Get these plants indoors:
Sage and rosemary
Have you got sage or rosemary in your garden for a quick pull of herbs when cooking? These herbs aren’t just good for enhancing food flavor, but they’re good at stopping most pests as well. Even in their plant forms, they still do their job as repellents. You may place them near your windows or doors to stop mosquitoes short.
If you want a more effective solution, dry and burn their leaves or place a dried bundle in your closet to scare moths and silverfish. You can turn rosemary into a spray repellent by soaking a quart of it, straining the liquid, putting it in a jar, and storing it in the fridge.
Lavender
Most of us love lavender so much we have its scent in perfumes and candles. Their scents appeal to humans; having them around can help us relax and improve our sleep. But while they’re that so good for us, they produce an oil that drives pests crazy. Making it your perfume can keep mosquitoes away from you.
Stop moths, mosquitoes, fleas, beetles, flies, and other kinds of pests short by placing your pots of lavender near entryways. You may keep a bundle or a bouquet of lavender flowers indoors, even in the closet. If you want a repellent solution, DIY oil extraction is pretty easy.
Lemongrass or citronella plant
Lemongrass and citronella grass look different from one another. But they have the same element that drives mosquitoes, fleas, and bugs away — the compound citronella. If you look at most pest repellent solutions, you will usually see citronella as one of the ingredients. They may smell lovely to you, but just like lavender, pests hate their smell.
You can grow these plants not just in your garden but also on your patio, front porch, or near the doors and windows. If you want to protect yourself from mosquitoes, crush a leaf and rub it all over your skin.
Basil and mint
Culinary herbs for the win. Just like your sage and rosemary, basil and mint go a long way in the kitchen. Any full-fledged chef will never want to run out of basil when cooking, and good thing, this plant is easily grown, just needing more sun and drainage than your other plants. To save space, you can put your culinary herbs in one rectangular box, except mints. Mints may kill plants near them, so make sure to plant them separately.
Where else best to put their pots but the kitchen? Doing so can help you pick them up for cooking or tea time. Be sure to put them in a sunny area too and with drainage. Place a few in your doorways, too, so that you can quickly bring a pot to your picnics.
Carnivorous plants
Beyond scents and convenient herbs, you may go further to buy carnivorous plants like a Venus flytrap—such great revenge to all those unwanted bugs. These plants, with their insect-attractive colors and scents, lure pests to their doom like a snap.
Mosquitoes, ticks, and many other bugs will not leave you to your peace if you don’t banish them fast enough. When they’re on the loose, it’s a battle you need to take, and these plants will be beside you for it. Don’t forget to check if you have allergies to any of these plants too. Let a particular plant stay outdoors if you have allergies to it.
