5 Herbs That Keep Bugs Away

Your home and your garden are all contained in an ecosystem. Aside from humans, pets and plants, insects, vermin and pests will find their way into the cracks and crevices in the hidden corners of your household. They will carry bacteria into your food, chew away at the wood that your house stands on and crawl into your clothes. How can you handle them?

You may have to accept that having bugs around is a fact of life and living, but you can greatly minimize the damage they cause by thinning out their populations in your area or making it hostile for them to live in. Luckily, nature has its own way of keeping them away from us through certain herbs. You won’t have to spray pesticides around your house which can have adverse effects on your family members. Instead, you can have the fragrance and flavor of herbs with an added benefit: as bug repellants.

Here are five herbs that can keep the creepy crawlies away:

Mint

Mice hate the smell of mint, so put dried mint leaves in your cabinets and pantries to keep them fearful of approaching and raiding your kitchen stocks. You can also frustrate the intentions of ant colonies through mint, and crushed mint scattered in areas where they expect food will keep you sane and your pantry clean. Better yet, keep mint plants inside your house for herbal tea, baking and bug repellants.

Lavender

That beautiful herb we find in soaps and perfumes is undesirable to indoor bugs like moths, mosquitoes and fleas. Keep lavender in planter boxes around the house and areas you like to stay in to keep yourself in a relaxed and bug-free state. Take some sprigs of lavender, tie them together then leave them in your closet to keep moths away from eating holes into your clothes.

Bay Leaf

You will never just leave the bay leaves in your spice rack for cooking once you find out that it sends cockroaches, mice, moths, weevils and other bugs away from your kitchen and garden. For bakers or cooks who use flours and grains, just put two bay leaves in the storage containers to ensure that bugs won’t try to invade your supplies. Putting bay leaves in cabinets also ensures that cockroaches won’t try to lay eggs in them.

Rosemary

Cockroaches and mosquitoes are instantly repelled by the fragrance of rosemary, so leave some around in your bedroom and kitchen. You’ll be well-guarded during your sleeping hours and you may also have some rosemary left to add to your meals for the next day.

Basil

Besides being one of the most useful culinary herbs, basil can keep flies away from your house and cooking area. Simply put basil in planter boxes and keep them near for that occasional backyard barbecue party, or crush basil leaves and leave them in your kitchen and dining area to keep your food safe from flies. The strong but lovely fragrance of basil may just become a secondary reason for keeping it around when you want to keep flies away.