12 Mosquito Repellent Plants - Garden Design (2023)

FAQs

How do landscapers keep mosquitoes away? ›

Citronella is probably one of the most common plants thought of when you think of mosquito-repellant plants. Many people wonder: Do citronella plants work? They are called the mosquito plant, and they give off a scent mosquitoes don't like. And they are effective in repelling mosquitoes in small areas.

These flowers are colorful additions to landscaping, but they have a distinctive smell that repels mosquitoes and other garden pests, including squash bugs and tomato worms. Marigolds contain a natural compound used in many insect repellents.

Monarda (bee balm, horsemint, wild bergamot) is an attractive perennial that has the added bonus of attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds in addition to its mosquito-repelling characteristics. With pretty flowers that pop red, purple, pink, or white, this is a larger plant that can grow 2 to 4 feet tall.

Lavender. Include beautiful lavender in your garden plans to help keep biting mosquitoes at bay. Varieties with higher camphor properties are the most effective insect repellents. This includes 'Provence' and 'Grosso' lavender.

To reduce the possibility of a mosquito biting you, you could consider wearing white, green or blue. Lighter colors are less interesting to mosquitos than darker shades like navy and black, red or orange. However, clothing color alone is unlikely to keep mosquitos away for good.

Planting citronella grass, basil, catnip or lavender will help mitigate mosquito populations. Most mosquito repellent plants give off an odor which the mosquitoes (and other insects) find offensive.

Why Are Mosquitoes Attracted To Mulch? It's the moisture they're after. Even after a light rain, the wet mulch will appeal to mosquitoes. Even though the aroma of cedar repels mosquitoes, if the oil dries up, the mulch doesn't function as a repellent any longer.

When you don't mow your lawn, you're giving mosquitoes a perfect place to hang out and breed. The shorter the lawn and vegetation, the less opportunity for them to hide out. Most homeowners like to maintain a nice lawn for aesthetic purposes, but more importantly, you should do it for mosquito prevention.

The Venus flytrap is native to the wetlands of North and South Carolina on the East Coast of the USA. Instead of taking in nutrients through its roots alone, the carnivorous plant traps prey within its leaves that can snap shut within a fraction of a second.

Does lavender really repel mosquitoes? ›

2. Lavender. Crushed lavender flowers produce a fragrance and oil that can repel mosquitoes. An animal study from 2002 on hairless mice found lavender oil to be effective at repelling adult mosquitoes.

A completely different plant, the Cymbopogon (lemongrass) genus, produces the perfumed oil. Citronella plants (or Pelargonium citrosum) are commonly thought to be the best at repelling mosquitos. However, Lemongrass (or Cymbopogon) is superior.

Cranesbills, especially geraniums such as Rozanne, have a variety of scents including lemon and rose-like smells. Wasps and mosquitoes typically avoid these scents and in turn, will avoid you when these beautiful flowers surround your garden.

Trees: Eucalyptus, Tea Tree

While humans generally like the fragrance of eucalyptus and tea tree, their strong scents are a major deterrent to mosquitoes. The CDC has even approved eucalyptus oil as an ingredient in mosquito repellent.

Mint – Mint leaves can aid in keeping mosquitoes away. Bonus: Mint essential oils can also help soothe bug bites.

Mosquitoes hate peppermint much like wasps and other common pests. Lavender – Lavender is not only an effective mosquito repellent, it's also touted as a powerful ointment to relieve itchy mosquito bites. This oil has a pleasant floral scent and is the safest choice for children.

Believe it or not, mosquitoes are pollinators. In fact, mosquitoes' primary food source is flower nectar, not blood. Just like bees or butterflies, mosquitoes transfer pollen from flower to flower as they feed on nectar, fertilizing plants and allowing them to form seeds and reproduce.

The hummingbird menu includes such insects as ants, aphids, fruit flies, gnats, weevils, beetles, mites and mosquitoes. They also raid spider webs to grab a quick spider meal and any hapless insects trapped there.

Certain Natural Scents

Mosquitoes are turned off by several natural scents: cinnamon, peppermint, cedar, citronella, lemongrass, patchouli, catnip, lavender, and more. Find a favorite, and use it when you want to spend time outside.

What foods repel mosquitoes? ›

There are a lot of myths out there, including the assertion that mosquitoes prefer blondes. In reality, mosquito preference doesn't seem to have anything to do with hair color, blood sugar levels, floral perfumes or many of the other factors we've heard rumors about.

The short answer as to why mosquitoes go after feet and ankles is that our feet often carry a strong odor. Yes, stinky feet attract mosquitoes.

Several specific factors can attract mosquitoes, including the carbon dioxide you exhale, your body odor, and your body temperature. A combination of these factors likely makes certain people more attractive to mosquitoes.

One calls for mixing mint mouthwash, Epsom salt, and stale beer and spraying it around your yard. Another uses apple cider vinegar, water, and an oil made up of citronella, peppermint, lemongrass, cedar wood, and geranium.

Mulch adds beneficial nutrients to your soil and contains moisture better than pine straw does. Mulch is harder to spread though. Pine straw is less expensive than mulch and it's easy to spread. However, it will need to be replaced more often than mulch and easily blows away with weather.

MULCH WITH CEDAR

The aroma of cedar has long been used to repel insects including termites, ants, moths and others. Add mosquitoes to that list, too. The smell of cedar comes from the oil trapped in the wood.

As a rule of thumb, assuming optimal conditions, Modern Pest will typically seek to re-treat your yard every 30 days. After 30 days, the material will have begun to degrade making the protective barrier around your yard, noticeably less effective.

Mosquitoes love to inhabit shady spots close to the ground such as the underside of plant leaves, brush, thick weeds, or tall grass—basically, anywhere it is damp, cool, and dark. To avoid this, regularly mow your lawn, trim bushes, and clean up any yard waste.

One of the most well-known mosquito deterrents, the overwhelming aroma of citronella plants masks the odor of carbon dioxide produced from our warm-blooded bodies. This stops mosquitoes from homing in on you. These plants can get quite big so are best grown in planters or gardens.

Do lemongrass plants really keep mosquitoes away? ›

What is the #1 plant you should grow in your garden and in pots on your patio or deck to keep the mosquitoes at bay all summer? Answer: Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus). Lemongrass contains citronella, a natural oil that repels mosquitoes.

Basil also acts as a good insect repellent for flies and mosquitoes. Very useful using fresh leaves rubbed on the skin. Eucalyptol. According to research conducted by Kansas State University, this compound is effective in eliminating bugs from the kitchen and repelling cockroaches and weevils.

Garden Design adds, “Rosemary is an herb that many of us are very familiar with and their woody scent is exactly what keeps mosquitoes as well as cabbage moths and carrot flies away.”

Lemongrass is toxic to dogs due to the cyanogenic glycosides and oils in the plant. Lemongrass poisoning, however, is rare in canines since dogs must ingest large quantities of the plant to trigger severe symptoms.

In fact, their care requirements are so similar that you can grow lemongrass and citronella grass together. Though both plants thrive in full sunshine (that's at least six hours of direct sunlight every day), citronella grass will also tolerate partial shade.

Oregano oil is considered as an excellent antiseptic and insect repellent. It has some active ingredients such as carvacrol, thymol and α-terpinene reported being highly effective in repelling mosquitoes (32, 33).

Coffee grounds make an effective mosquito repellent because of the strong smell. The coffee grounds will mask the scents on humans that attract mosquitoes - if they can't smell you they can't find you! You can also burn it to create an even stronger aroma - the same way citronella candles keep mosquitoes away.

Dryer sheets are designed to provide a pleasant scent to laundry, not to repel insects, so any insect-repellent properties may wear off quickly. In summary, while some people claim that dryer sheets can repel mosquitoes, there is little scientific evidence to support this claim.

What plant gets rid of mosquitoes? ›

Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) and citronella grass (C. nardus) have proven mosquito-repelling abilities thanks to the citronella oil contained within their leaves. The leaves can be crushed and rubbed on bare skin to ward off biting bugs.

Chrysanthemums. This might be the best plant to deter bugs. Ants, Japanese beetles, roaches, bed bugs, spider mites, silverfish, and ticks will stay away if you have some of these around. Some bug repellents use an ingredient in this flower because of how effective it is.

Mint – Mint leaves can aid in keeping mosquitoes away. Bonus: Mint essential oils can also help soothe bug bites.

Certain Natural Scents

Mosquitoes are turned off by several natural scents: cinnamon, peppermint, cedar, citronella, lemongrass, patchouli, catnip, lavender, and more. Find a favorite, and use it when you want to spend time outside.

Use Citronella

Citronella oil is a natural mosquito repellent that will kill mosquitoes and drive them out of your house. Look for citronella candles or use citronella essential oil in your vaporizer or oil diffuser.

So, if you're looking to avoid the itchy bites, researchers at the University of Washington say to avoid colors like cyan, orange, red and black. Instead, you should focus on wearing colors mosquitoes ignore like white, blue, green and purple.