10 Best Ways To Repel Insects From Home Garden Organically

Imagine your home garden full of perfect looking flowers and vegetables. What a perfect sight! But usually it is not so and many garden bugs use our flower and vegetable garden as a salad bar. Many gardeners switch to insecticides and pesticides, that help prevent the plants from harmful insects, but these have many side effects too. The use of insecticides and pesticides can also lead to the insertion of harmful chemicals into the plants that may harm them later. Then how can you get rid of these little insects? Well, we would say switch to natural and cost-effective ways for dealing with your garden insects. Yes, you heard us right. Here are some natural insect repellents by which you can repel insects from your home garden organically. Let’s find out how.

Use A Good Soil

Good soil can actually deter garden insect pests. Though it takes a little time to prepare this soil, this is one of the most effective ways to repel insects. When the growing season begins, till in organic matter like compost. This will keep the soil clean by adding natural elements and compounds that help keep insects away. After tilling, cover the garden with black plastic or cardboard for 6 months. The heat that builds underneath will kill most of the garden insects, weeds and parasites. Later, remove the plastic, cultivate the soil and begin planting.

Thin Out Plants

Selectively and aggressively thinning out plants is essential to keep insects away from your garden. Weak seedlings tend to catch disease easily and may pass on the problem to a healthy plant hence attracting insects. Ensure that you prune away dead branches and shoots that restrict the airflow. Plants require good air circulation to breathe and stay healthy and thinning out plants definitely help in the same.

Buy Disease And Pest-Resistant Seeds

It is always easier to prevent a plant from insects than getting rid of them after they arrive in your garden. When you are buying seeds in a catalog, look for letters like V, F, N or T after the name of the seed. This indicates the problems that the seeds are most resistant to. Always ensure that you buy insect resistant seeds that will definitely help and act as good insects repellent.

Use Floating Row Covers

Summer-weight row covers allow light and water to penetrate while keeping the insects out. You may only need to use floating row cover over young plants until they are established well. Weigh down the sides of the cover with heavy bricks or rocks hence ensuring that the plants do not get destroyed by insects.

Use Insect Traps

Most garden centers have a yellow “sticky” card that helps trap insects. These cards when placed on the ground and between the shoots of branches and plants catch many garden bugs in your garden. This not only effective but also an easy way to repel insects from your garden organically.

Add Beneficial Insects

Insects like ladybugs prove to be invaluable in the fight against garden insects. These bugs eat aphids, mites and the eggs and larvae of many destructive insects. Other beneficial garden bugs that you can include in your garden are praying mantises, lacewings and parasitic wasps.

Practice Crop Rotation

Growing the same crops in the same place every year allows the specific garden insects to remain in the area and attack the crops waiting for the next spring planting. This is one of the most effective and easiest ways to ensure that the insects are not attracted to your home garden.

Plant Scented Herbs

Strongly scented herbs act as insects repellent plants when planted among or near other plants. This is one of the easiest ways to prevent garden pests. Some of the best strong scented annuals include calendula, coriander and garlic. You are required to plant scented, perennial herbs at the edge and you can also go for plants like anise hyssop, chives and thyme that helps repel insects.

Practice Interplanting

This is an effective method to confuse the insects in the garden. Insects enjoy monocrops, and hence planting alternate rows of vegetables with rows of beneficial insect-attracting and pest-repelling herbs and flowers is the best way to protect the plants. For example, you can interplant cabbage family crops with cilantro, calendula, and onions.

Create Permanent Walkway

Permanent pathways encourage beneficial insects with the temporary pathways are tilled each tear and destroy them and their habitat. Having permanent pathways allows you to have permanent beds where you can continue to build fertility over time. Better fertility can, of course, support your garden’s resistance to ‘catching a bug’.

Garden insects are a common problem. While most of us switch to harmful insecticides and pesticides to repel these insects, those might harm the plants as well. From natural mosquito repellent to some succulent plants, there are a lot of natural ways to keep insects away from your home garden. These easy and effective methods will definitely prove beneficial when it comes to repel insects from the home garden organically.