Plants That Repel Insects in Gardens

Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen, and in this section we're going to talk about plants that repel insects. Now my theory is that there is going to be insects around my garden if I don't use chemicals no matter what and that's a good thing. All insects have a purpose. So you don't want to be killing any of the insects, 'cause there's lots of beneficial insects in your yard. Spiders are great, ladybugs are great. And aphids are bad. So usually you're going to have insects in your garden if you don't use chemicals no matter what. But there's a lot of plants that you can grow that the insects don't seem to like at all. And by having them in your garden they kind of avoid the whole area, so a lot of times you can plant the more tender plants that the insects like right next to them. And they won't seem to eat them as quickly. But there's a lot of easy plants. Peppermint is a beautiful plant that insects don't really eat at all. It has an oil that they don't like, and you can even rub peppermint right onto your skin, if you're working in the garden and the mosquitoes or the flies and the bugs are near you, and it repels them. So they won't come near you. Thyme works the same way. And you can take a little bit and rub it on your skin and it's a great insect repellent. But one of my favorite plants for repelling insects is lavender. Butterflies love lavender, but other bugs like aphids and mosquitoes and flies don't seem to like it at all. So they seem to avoid it. So it's a great plant to have in your garden to repel bugs. Eucalyptus is also a great tree for repelling bugs because it puts off an oil that most bugs don't like, so you can even rub a lot of it onto your skin, and it's a great mosquito repellent, so it's a good plant to have in your garden. But all plants aren't insect proof, and even if you do have some plants that are insect proof in your garden, and others right next to it, the bugs still sometimes get them, so there's no plan that perfect when you're trying to garden, and you got to remember insects are not your enemies, they're your friends.