Blog

5/20/2024

Plants for pest management

By Ashley Kolodziej, Volunteer Garden Manager

One of our big takeaways from the first neighborhood garden planning meeting was: how will we keep pests managed?

One of the great things about nature and gardening is that nature often gives us a helping hand with pest management, if we take a minute to research and look in the right places. With that in mind, let's look at five of my favorite plants you can include in your garden to manage pests naturally.

Daffodils

Did you know daffodils are a natural rodent repellent? These beautiful yellow flowers are one of the first to crop up in the spring and remind us all that better weather is just around the corner. Because daffodils are bulbs, they only need to be planted once, making them super easy to maintain from year to year.

Mint

While the mint plant itself won't repel rodents, as part of a mixture, mint oil can be made into a spray that smells great and deters rodents. Growing mint as part of a neighborhood herb garden can help us provide fresh mint for cooking to the neighborhood anytime we want, and when we have too much, we can let folks know that it's a good time to do a big harvest for repellent purposes. Mint is highly invasive, so if you choose to grow mint at home, make sure to do so in a container - not directly in the ground.

Sage

Who doesn't love sage at Thanksgiving? Besides being a fall staple, this amazing herb is a year-round hero in pastas, bright summery lemonades, and of course - rodent repellent. You might be noticing a trend here - herbs are amazing pest repellents because of their highly aromatic nature. Can you guess the next plant on our list?

Rosemary

Like sage, rosemary has a strong scent that deters critters from the garden. Rosemary isn't typically a perennial in our planting zone, 6b, but some hardy varieties like Hill Hardy have been proven to survive in zones up to zone 6, making rosemary a potentially good choice for a low-maintenance plant we can use for cooking and pest maintenance. Besides being tasty in lemonade and soups, rosemary even repels mosquitoes!

Calendula

Calendula rounds out my list of favorite pest-repellent plants for its sunny, beautiful blooms that last all summer long. Unlike marigolds, a similar looking cousin, some parts of calendula are edible, such as the petals. Like marigolds, though, they are a super easy annual to grow from seed in our zone. I've grown these both outdoors and hydroponically and you just can't beat them for beauty and utility in the garden.

What are your favorite pest-repellent plants?

Tell us at our next meeting on May 29th, 2024 from 6:30pm-8:30pm! We're looking for volunteers and plant planning ideas for the space. I'd love to hear your input!