Naturally keep pests away while you enjoy your backyard this summer with a Mosquito Repellent Container Garden. This container garden filled with herbs and plants looks pretty while keeping mosquitoes at bay!
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Ah, summertime! It’s a great time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the sunshine! Until you – smack – end up – smack – getting – smack – eaten alive by – smack – mosquitoes! They definitely know how to ruin a good time. Don’t they? I hate bug sprays. I mean, hate! They make me cough, they smell disgusting, and they’re not really all that great for you either. I mean, butane and propane are just a couple of the ingredients in a can of bug spray. Come on! It’s pretty nasty stuff that doesn’t always seem to get the job done anyway! So instead, I’ve been turning to plants to try and keep the pests away while we’re hanging outside.
A few months ago, during one of our many trips to Home Depot, my husband and I bought a really large pot to transplant one of our indoor plants. It didn’t work out for the space we had intended for it. So it had been sitting in our basement. We went back and forth with what to use it for and finally decided – after my husband mentioned something about lemongrass – to make a mosquito repellent container garden. So I did some research on mosquito repelling plants and took a trip to a local greenhouse to buy some plants.
Lemongrass
Lemongrass isn’t just a fragrant plant used in Asian cooking. When planted outside, it can keep mosquitoes away. We grew lemongrass in its own pot a few years ago and its spiky leaves looked really cool as it filled out!
Citronella
Citronella is one of many scented geraniums that are available. The citrus scent repels mosquitos and if you crush the leaves, you can rub it on your skin to make a natural bug repellent.
Lemon Thyme
Lemon Thyme is really awesome, in general, to keep in your herb garden. It’s great to use in dishes, but it also can be used as a mosquito repellent. Do you sense a trend with the fragrances that mosquitoes hate? Anything in the citrus family seems to be a win!
Catnip
Catnip is an herb that’s entirely new to my garden! But after reading up on it, it’s a pretty decent herb for pets and humans. Hey ladies! You can totally use it in a tea to help menstrual cramps. That alone makes me happy to have it in my garden! But knowing it might help repel mosquitoes definitely makes me happy, too!
Marigolds
My Mom always has marigolds in her garden. She taught me years ago that they keep pests from disturbing your plants. But apparently these stinky, little flowers keep the mosquitoes away, too! Plus, their fiery blooms add a nice pop of color to the garden!
SUPPLIES
- 20″ wide outdoor pot
- Potting soil
- Weed barrier fabric
- Rocks
- Lemongrass
- Citronella
- Lemon Thyme
- Catnip
- Marigolds
STEPS
- If your pot doesn’t have drainage holes in it, get your sexy husband to drill some holes in the bottom of the pot for you.
- Next, cut a piece of weed barrier fabric to line the bottom of the pot. This will help keep the dirt in the pot and not all over your deck!
- Add some rocks on top of the fabric to help with drainage.
- Then, add a sufficient amount of potting soil. You’ll need about one large bag of soil to fill a 20″ pot.
- Begin arranging your plants and adding them to the soil. Make sure they have some room to grow.
- Give your new planter plenty of water and sunshine while you, hopefully, keep the mosquitoes away!
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16 Comments
I think container gardens are more my speed than a “real” garden. Lazier *coughcough* EASIER.
Ha! SO much easier! Sometimes I think they look nicer anyway.
My daughter & I have plans to plant our container garden this weekend. Definitely going to include some mosquito repelling plants as well now! 🙂
Fun! Have a great time making your container garden! I hope it helps keep the pests away this summer!
We have a pond next door to our house. We have some pellets that we put in it each spring to prevent mosquitoes. This reminds me it is probably about time to do that.
Ooh! Not sure I’d like living next to a pond during the summer! Glad I could remind you!
I toootally wanna grow some catnip for my kitties!!
It’s so easy to grow! It’s really taking off in my pot! Now I’m just waiting for the neighborhood kitties to start hanging out on our deck. Haha!
Mosquitos don’t go near me, but boy fo they love my son! I’ll have to look into some of these
You’re so lucky! They used to just go after my husband, but now they come for me, too!
I need to try this! Mosquitoes think I’m an all you can eat buffet.
I feel your pain! I definitely hope this helps this summer!
Totally need to make a few of these!
Definitely! I swear the mosquitoes get worse every year!
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