Warm-weather entertaining means competing with mosquitoes, flies and ants for your individual patio — and a handful of easy-to-grow plants may also help push pests back without sprays or candles.
What Plants Help Repel Pests in Outdoor Spaces?
A brief list of common herbs and flowers — including lavender, marigolds, basil, mint, citronella, rosemary, lemongrass, petunias, chrysanthemums and catnip — may also help keep pests away from seating areas, doorways and dining spaces outdoors.
Each plant targets different bugs. Lavender works on mosquitoes and moths. Marigolds repel aphids, mosquitoes and flies. Basil discourages mosquitoes and houseflies. Mint helps with ants and mosquitoes. Rosemary deters mosquitoes and cabbage moths. Petunias work against aphids and tomato hornworms, while chrysanthemums repel multiple insects due to natural compounds within the flowers.
Citronella is the perfect known of the group. “Citronella is by far the most well-liked plant that repels mosquitoes,” garden expert Carmen Johnston told Real Easy. “It has a really pungent odor.I often place this in small eight-inch terra cotta pots and blend in with my centerpieces when entertaining outdoors. You’ll be able to either use the clippings mixed in with arrangements or use the plant itself because the centerpiece.”
Lemongrass — sometimes called citronella grass — targets mosquitoes as well, while catnip has earned a fame as a surprisingly strong mosquito repellent. Picking two or three plants that cover the pests you truly take care of is often simpler than counting on a single variety.
Which Plants Repel Mosquitoes the Best?
For mosquitoes specifically, citronella, lemongrass, rosemary, lavender, basil, marigolds, mint and catnip are the standouts amongst easy-to-grow options.
Rosemary is a go-to for patios in warm regions. Annie Burdick and Jamie McIntosh write in The Spruce: “The scent of rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) is a deterrent to mosquitos and other garden pests, akin to cabbage moths. Rosemary loves warm and dry climates and should should be moved indoors in areas with harsh, cold winters. But all summer long it adorns your patio and keeps pests at bay.”
Catnip is commonly missed but punches above its weight. Madeline Buiano writes in Martha Stewart: “Mosquitoes hate catnip (Nepeta cataria), the exact same plant that your cats love. Also often known as catmint, this herbaceous perennial emits a chemical that acts as a natural insect repellent.”
The takeaway: scent is doing many of the work. Plants that smell strong to humans — rosemary, mint, lavender, basil, citronella — are inclined to smell unbearable to mosquitoes, which is why placement matters as much because the plant itself.
How Do You Use Plants to Keep Pests Away Effectively?
To get real results, place pest-repelling plants near seating areas and doorways, use pots on patios for a stronger barrier effect, mix several varieties together and position fragrant plants where air flow can spread their scent.
A single basil pot tucked behind a grill won’t do much. Clustering plants along the perimeters of a patio or dining table — and brushing or crushing leaves occasionally to release oils — gives the scent a likelihood to truly reach the bugs you are attempting to repel. Carmen Johnston’s tip of working citronella into centerpieces is a useful template: bring the plant to where persons are sitting.
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Layering plants matters too. Combining a mosquito-targeted plant like citronella or catnip with something that handles flies or aphids, like marigolds or basil, covers more of what shows up uninvited. Chrysanthemums add one other layer because their natural compounds work against several insects without delay.
Plants alone won’t solve a pest problem. Pair them with the fundamentals: empty standing water from buckets, planters and birdbaths, clean up yard debris where bugs breed and rest, and keep grass and shrubs trimmed back from seating areas. Done together, the fitting plants and the fitting habits make outdoor spaces noticeably less hospitable to pests.