Garden pests are never fun to deal with and can cause expensive damage to your crops if you're not careful. This hack shared by an Instagram gardener keeps pests away while growing a popular herb to add to your dishes: chives.
The scoop
Nicole Johnsey Burke (@gardenaryco) uses her Instagram page to share tips and tricks to build your best garden. One of her hacks suggests using chives in your garden as a natural bug repellant instead of relying on pesticides. "Onion and garlic chives is one of the most fantastic companion plants to put into your kitchen garden," Burke explains.
Burke recommends planting four to eight chive plants around the edges of your raised garden bed early in the spring but making sure to wait until after the last frost of the season.
Chives are perennials, so they grow back each year and you won't need to replant them. If they start to grow too big, commenters suggest just splitting up the roots and distributing them among other garden beds.
"They're so easy, so prolific, so tasty in almost any dish, and also a natural pest deterrent," Burke explained in her caption.
How it's helping
Chives are a great option for gardeners because of their versatility — they grow well in most zones and are a great addition to a wide variety of dishes.
Burke refers to them as "interrupters" because of the way that their garlicky scent repels bugs — "interrupting" their harmful activities while also eliminating or significantly lowering your need for pesticides.
Along with being great for your bank account, your local wildlife will thank you for this all-natural hack.
Pesticides often contain harmful chemicals, and these can cause damage to wildlife — namely, by contaminating soil and water. This further contaminates the water you swim in and sometimes even drink as well as harms plants and animals, like birds, fish, and helpful insects.
What everyone's saying
Commenters could overwhelmingly attest to the success of the natural bug repellent. "Took your advice this spring and planted chives, one of my favorite new garden additions!" wrote one user.
Another added that they "planted 3 chive plants along the border of one of [their] raised beds and it has been a GREAT deterrent!" A third user said that after planting chives they "noticed there's a lot less issues with pests."
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