Natural Pesticides: Herbs

Although there are a multitude of chemical pesticides available to protect your garden, many of todays gardeners find themselves looking for a less time consuming and safer alternative. Growing a variety of herbs in and around your garden can be the perfect answer, not only to your pest problem, but also to enrich your soil.

To maintain the general health of your garden, fragrant herbs like parsley, sage, thyme, chives, garlic chives, hyssop and marjoram have proved to be beneficial as both pesticides and soil enhancer. Dill, sage, camomile and rosemary planted with cabbage and potatoes will help deter pest that feast on these vegetables, while chives planted with carrots and celery come to their aide. Plant parsley with your tomatoes and chervil with radishes for extra spice. Mint is a good ant deterrent, while pest like the carrot fly that locate by scent, are lost when aromatic herbs such as bay, rue, lavender, borage, balms, bergamot and dill are present.

Crushed garlic and hot peppers such as cayenne, added to water and sprayed on your plants will repel most chewing and sucking pest. Steep one gallon of water with 1\2 teaspoon of each and dilute to about 25% before spraying vegetables. Most beetles can be detoured by using cedar chips. Aphids, as well as tripe, disappear when sprayed with an infusion of larkspur and many soft bodies pest hate tobacco, which can be used as a spray in your garden, but remember that these two can be poisonous to humans so be sure to wash anything you spray thoroughly before ingesting.


Source from:
PageWise, Inc.