Want to keep pesky mosquitoes away but can't stand the smell of bug spray? It turns out there's a fun and easy way to stop the mosquitoes from ruining a nice afternoon outside while also being surrounded by beautiful plants.
Instagram user Niya Brown Matthews (@niyabrownmatthews), a professional gardener, life coach, author, and speaker, recently posted a video showing her colorful garden and pointing out all the plants that mosquitoes can't stand but smell pleasant to us.
The scoop
While lavender, peppermint, and lemongrass, just to name a few, smell good to us, mosquitoes don't want to be anywhere near them.
In the video captioned, "SAVE THIS POST," Niya says she has "a variety of plants that mosquitoes hate the smell of," then goes through her garden showing 11 plants that repel them.
Next to the video is a list of 13 plants that will repel mosquitoes: lavender, thyme, geraniums, peppermint, spearmint, lemongrass, basil, garlic, marigolds, catnip, rosemary, lemon balm, and citronella.
Niya states in her bio that she lives in hardiness zone 7a, which stretches across much of the South into the Southwest and reaches as far north as Washington state.
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined by its average annual minimum temperature and is used to help gardeners and growers know what they should and shouldn't plant.
It's a good idea to check out which of these plants will thrive in your area before deciding which of them you want to use to keep mosquitoes at bay.
How it's helping
Adding these plants to your garden will not only repel mosquitoes and beautify your yard, but gardening has also been shown to lower stress and anxiety levels. It saves you the time and money you'll spend buying one of the countless available deterrents, not knowing which ones actually work.
On top of that, several of the plants listed can be used to add flavor to a whole lot of delicious dishes.
Even better, by planting these repellents, you're not spraying chemicals onto your body or introducing those chemicals into the atmosphere, and you don't need to worry about a store-bought deterrent ending up in a landfill.
What everyone's saying
One person commented, "Ouuu I love a good plant that fights for us."
Another said, "Thank you for sharing."
One commenter first complimented the "beautiful garden," and was curious if there was a problem with wasps and hornets. Niya replied, "No," adding the raising hands emoji.
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