11 Plants That Repel Mosquitoes

The days are finally getting longer, the snow is (slowly!) beginning to melt, and spring officially arrives in just a few days! While the prospect of warmer weather has us all a bit giddy, we can’t forget the unwelcome intruders that tag along with the sunny summer weather.

Yes, we are talking about mosquitoes, and everybody knows that they can be a huge nuisance. However, using chemical products to keep them away is not on the top of everyone’s wish list.

Read on for some ideas of plants that repel mosquitoes – naturally!

Citronella

Chances are, you’ve heard of this one before- it’s one of the most common ingredients in most mosquito repellents. Strange enough though, many people don’t even know that citronella is actually a plant! Citronella is a beautiful perennial clumping grass that emits a strong aroma. That aroma masks other scents, and keeps mosquitoes from being attracted to things located around it. The citronella plant has a much stronger aroma than other mosquito repellents that contain citronella, so it is a great choice. Citronella is very easy to grow, and can get to be a very tall 5 or 6 feet high! You can grow citronella in pots and place it around a porch or patio, or you can plant it directly in a yard or garden bed. It’s a great choice for repelling mosquitoes naturally.

You can actually buy two large live citronella plants from this page on Amazon. There’ll be no need to wait for seeds to grow – you can start repelling mosquitoes immediately.

Lemon Balm

Another great choice for a mosquito repelling plant is lemon balm. A member of the mint family, the plant also known as horsemint and beebalm is a very easy plant for beginning gardeners to grow- even if you don’t have a green thumb! Lemon Balm is a very hardy plant, it resists drought, and it grows well even in shade. It is a very fast growing and sometimes aggressive plant, so you might want to contain it to a pot, where you can move it to wherever you like to ensure that it doesn’t take over your garden! An added bonus? You can dry the leaves and use them to make a delicious herbal tea!

Catnip

Your feline friends will be happy to know that catnip is a great mosquito deterrent! In fact, in a 2010 study, researchers found that catnip is 10 times more effective than DEET, the ingredient commonly found in bug repellents. It is a very easy plant to grow, and if you have cats in the house, they will surely be happy to have it around. However, be careful not to plant catnip in with other flowers, veggies, or herbs if you have cats around your garden. They will surely roll around in the catnip and smash everything nearby!

Marigolds

A bright, hardy annual plant, marigolds are a great choice for repelling mosquitoes. Marigolds contain Pyrethrum, an ingredient found in many insect repellents, and they have a unique aroma which bugs find repulsive. The flowers themselves are beautiful and can make a great border or addition to any flower bed! Try placing them around borders of your home, and mosquitoes might not want to cross over!

Basil

Calling all cooks! Want a double whammy when it comes to mosquito protection? Plant some basil! Not only will you have a quick and easy mosquito repellent, you will also have a delicious fresh herb on hand to add to all of your favorite recipes! There are many different varieties of basil around, so feel free to experiment and find the ones that you like best. Many expert gardeners recommend trying lemon basil or cinnamon basil to deter insects.

Lavender

You probably know that lavender is a gorgeous purple flowering plant with a soothing, calming scent. But, did you know that it is also a natural mosquito repellent? Grow it indoors near a sunny window, or outside in your garden or flower bed to keep the bugs away. While you’re at it, make a delicious herbal tea, or use lavender to fill your home with a wonderful calming aroma.

Peppermint

Most bugs despise the smell and taste of peppermint, so planting it around your home is a great way to keep them from dropping by uninvited! Plus, if you do happen to get bitten, peppermint leaves rubbed directly onto the skin make a great itch relief treatment! Added bonus for the wonderful minty smell that makes a delicious addition to food and beverages!

Garlic

Unfortunately for all of us who love Italian food, studies have shown that EATING garlic does not repel mosquitoes. (Unless, however, you were to eat a HUGE amount!) However, having garlic around DOES! Make sure to add some garlic to your flower bed or vegetable garden for added protection!

Pennyroyal

The adorable pennyroyal flower is a natural deterrent for mosquitoes! Make sure to plant some around your flowerbeds! Pennyroyal plants also make great groundcovers, and they attract a plethora of beautiful butterflies. Some people even use pennyroyal to flavor certain fish dishes. As you can see, this plant has plenty of benefits!

Rosemary

Rosemary is a beautiful flowering plant that is often used to flavor lamb or fish dishes, but did you know that it is also a natural mosquito repellent? It’s perfect to add to your herb garden or flowerbed to keep bugs away, and it even attracts butterflies!

Plus you can simply snip a few springs off every time you need to add extra flavor to your lamb or steak!

Geranium

This beautiful flowering plant is a great choice for mosquito repellent. When planted in a hanging container, the colorful blooms will cascade over the side of the pot, providing a beautiful visual piece as well as a very useful bug repellent!

As you can see, there are many different plants out there that can help to keep bugs away! Next time you reach for the chemical bug spray, take a minute and think again, and choose something more natural!

source : http://www.naturallivingideas.com/11-plants-that-repel-mosquitoes/

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12 Tips For A Healthy Organic Lawn

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Want a beautiful, green, healthy organic lawn? Then here are twelve ways to achieve just that…

Do A Soil Test

Before you do anything, test your soil. You can buy a DIY kit at your local garden store or from this page on Amazon, or you can call your local Cooperative Extension office. The test results will tell you the pH of your soil, along with your levels of Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K) and Phosphorus (P). Once you know what you’re working with, you can make an informed decision about what type of organic fertilizers you’ll be using on your lawn.

Start Composting

You can help your lawn and the environment by starting your own compost system at home. There are several ways to set it up, and with a little research you can find the best method for you. You can put food scraps, garden waste, lawn trimmings and so much more (see 35 Unexpected Things to Add to Your Compost Pile) in your pile. Once the compost is ready it can be mixed in with your native soil or used to make compost tea. If you don’t have the space or the energy to make your own, buy compost that was produced locally.

Plant Native Grasses

Though many of them look similar, different varieties of grass are just that, different. They grow differently and require different levels of sun, water and soil nutrients. And like most plants they are best suited to their native environment. Once native grass is established it will need less watering, mulching, protection from frost, and mowing than introduced varieties.

Try an Alternative Ground Cover

In tight spaces, those with a lot of foot (or tire) traffic, less than awesome soil quality or a serious lack of sunshine – it’s often hard to grow healthy grass. If you have a spot like this on your property, you may want to consider other methods of ground cover, like creeping vines and succulents. Many of these plants need less watering and maintenance than traditional lawns, and visitors will be less likely to walk all over this type of ground cover. If you visit a nursery in your area you can find ground covering plants that like sun or shade, sandy or rocky soil, or even some that can go months without watering.

Pick the Right Fertilizers and Soil Amendments

In addition to compost, your organic lawn might need other nutrients (as determined by your soil test). Always use organic fertilizers, and if you can find one that was made locally that’s even better. Lawns generally prefer fertilizers lower in nitrogen.

Below are some common soil amendments that might be helpful in your lawn or garden:

Builder’s sand is natural, large grain sand that is great for soil with drainage problems.

Humus is decayed, organic matter that adds fertility, holds moisture and provides aeration

Limestone lowers soil acidity

Sphagnum Peat Moss can lighten heavy, clay soils and add mass to sandy soils, which keeps the existing nutrients in.

Kelp Meal contains over 70 vitamins and minerals beneficial to plants and helps beneficial micro-organisms to thrive

Earthworm Castings repel pests that feed on plant juices, like aphids and spider mites. They also get rid of any remnants of heavy metals from organic waste and can be used to protect plants from pH levels that are too high OR too low.

Bat Guano can hold together loose soil AND make dense soil longer. It contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium along with several micronutrients that benefit your soil and lawn.

…But Don’t Overdo It

Once you start learning about all the amazing organic soil amendments that will support your luscious new lawn, you may be tempted to add a lot of them, often. However, too much fertilizer can be more harmful than too little – especially if you’ve gone with native grass. Over-fertilizing can make grass grow too fast, and it will be more susceptible to disease and bugs. Fertilize just once a year, in October if you live in the north and November if you live down south.

Avoid All Poisons

An organic lawn can’t be organic if you use any pesticides or weed killer. Even the so-called ‘organic herbicides’ aren’t good for your grass and can damage plants growing nearby. If you plant local grass and shrubs and use organic fertilizers, the natural eco-system you’ve created will likely not need these dangerous poisons anyway.

Don’t Mow too Short, or too often

Your lawn will be healthiest when you let it grow. Set your mower blades to about 4” (or the highest setting) and only mow when rain is expected in the next few days. Grass that is allowed to grow naturally has stronger roots and absorbs more nutrients; longer periods without mowing will also help grass spread into any bare spots.

Water well, but only when needed

Moist soil encourages the roots of your lawn to grow deep and strong. When your soil seems moist after a brief watering, it’s actually dry underneath and the roots can’t dig down into the soil. It’s much better to run the sprinklers for an hour once a week, than for 15 minutes every day. If having a lawn that is green year round isn’t so important to you, or you live in an area that is prone to drought, you can let your grass go brown in the summer without damaging it. Even if it looks dead in the hottest times of the year, it will come back lush and green in the spring – think about how brown natural prairie looks during August, the same rules apply to the grass in your backyard.

Don’t Freak Out over Good Bugs

An organic lawn won’t, and shouldn’t be, bug free. Products designed to kill all the bugs in your lawn can also be dangerous for your lawn, pets and children. Some creepy-crawlers are very good for your lawn. Earthworms are a sign of healthy soil. Spiders, ladybugs, wasps and beetles eat the insects that are actually doing damage to your plants. Insects and other bugs are a sign of a healthy eco-system.

Aerate your lawn for natural healing

Like all living things, your lawn needs to eat, drink and breathe. Once you have a healthy, organic lawn going, including natural fertilizers and lots of earthworms, your lawn will breathe all by itself. If you’re just starting out and want to help your lawn heal itself, you can rent a core aerator from a local equipment rental store and get it done in no time.  Just like fertilizing, fall is the best time to aerate your grass.

Attract Bug-Eaters

If you have concerns about insects and other bugs in your grass, you can take some steps to attract one of the best exterminators around – birds. Planting native shrubs, vines and trees will bring them in, and create a bit more diversity in your mini-eco-system (which will help eliminate pests). Hanging feeders filled with seeds will also attract finches, sparrows, wrens and other insect loving birds.

source: http://www.naturallivingideas.com/12-tips-for-a-healthy-organic-lawn/

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7 Secret Tricks to Get the Most Produce Out Of Your Vegetable Garden

Do not let a limited garden space hamper your dreams of abundant harvest. Having a small area to work with does not mean you cannot harvest more crops. In reality it is doable! You just need to work a little bit more to make this dream turn into a reality. Here’s how to do it.

7 Secret Tricks to Get the Most Produce Out Of Your Vegetable Garden

1. Build Up Your Soil

If you want to extract more yields from your vegetable garden, the first thing you need to do is to build up your garden soil. The best thing to accomplish this task is to add organic matter to your soil. Aged animal manure and organic compost will do the trick. After you have finished adding organic matters into your soil, the next thing to do is to make raised beds. Raised beds can yield you up to four times more than just planting and growing crops in rows. Using raised beds will maximize the space in your garden resulting in much greater yield.

2. Round Out Your Beds

It is not enough to just make raised beds in your garden. The shape of your beds will also play an important part. Since raised beds are more space efficient, the best thing to do to your raised beds is to make sure that the top of the bed is rounded to form an arc. This may seem not a big deal but once you start planting and growing your crops, you will see a big difference in terms of planting space and crop yield during harvest.

3. Spacing is the key

The way you plant your crops is also a big factor to get the maximum amount of crop yield from each of your garden beds. Instead of planting your crops in square patterns or rows, why not plant them like forming a triangle. Planting in a triangle pattern can add about 12 percent more plants to each of your garden beds.

4. Use Vertical Gardening

If you have a small garden space to work with, you can still plant more crops by going vertical. Plant vine crop vegetables such as tomatoes, beans, squash, melons, peas, and other vegetable crops that grows vertically. Just make sure to support your vertical garden by using trellis, fences, stakes, or anything that can be used in vertical gardening.

5. Mix It Up

If you really want to maximize your garden space, then, interplanting crops is a great way to do it. Plant corn together with pole beans and squash in the same area in your garden. The corn will serve as a support once your pole beans start to climb while the squash can grow freely on the ground and serves as protection to competing weeds.

6. Plant in Succession

Growing more than one crop in the same space in the garden is also a great way to get the most out of your garden. During the planting season, do some succession planting in your garden. This way you can harvest up to about four different crops from a single area. You can do this by planting different crops that grows and matures fast. For example, If you plant and harvest lettuce, you can follow it up by planting corn, then, followed by some fast maturing greens. This is done within the same planting season.

7. Stretch Your Season

You can stretch your planting season by growing crops that matures fast. Lettuce, kale, turnips, and tomatoes are just some of the examples. You can also stretch your planting season by making sure your soil is warm enough and have a good air circulation even during the colder months. Do this by applying mulch around your plants, putting row covers, or using cold frames to protect the crops in your garden.

source by : http://freshorganicgardening.com/7-secret-tricks-to-get-the-most-produce-out-of-your-vegetable-garden/6/

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5 How-To’s in Preparing Your Garden For Winter

When the leaves starts to fall in your garden and the breeze of the air starts to sting the skin because of its coldness, then, this is nature’s way of saying that winter is just around the corner. This also means that taking care of your garden is now a priority that should not be taken for granted. So, before winter finally sets in, it is wise to manage your garden and prepare it for the winter so that when the cold weather arrives, you can just relax in your homes without worrying about your gardens condition.

5 How-To’s in Preparing Your Garden for winter

source: devisserlandscape

1. How to Prepare Perennials for winter

How do you prepare your perennials for the winter? Here’s how to do it.

After frost, cut your perennial stems to soil level. This will remove the eggs and spores of the garden pests that still linger in your plants.

All dead plant debris must be cut and made into compost to be used as organic matter that will add nutrients to the soil.

Put winter mulch into your soil once the ground freezes. This will prevent rodents and other garden pests from nesting into your garden.

To keep the soil warm and moist even during winter, and to protect the plants that are still growing in your garden, put mulch around them. Pine needles, chopped leaves, and shrubs are the best mulch to be used.

source: truevalueprojects

2. How to Prepare Bulbs for winter

The most important thing to remember on how to prepare your bulbs for the winter is to make sure that your garden soil does not crack and shift due to the freezing temperature. To avoid shifting and cracking of soil, put mulch around your bulb beds. This will keep the soil warm and moist which is very important for your bulbs.

source: lowes

3. How to Prepare Trees for winter

Trees in the garden should also be protected during winter. Wrapping the trunks and stems of your trees with tree-guard products will do the job. You can also shade or use burlap screens to your trees to control the damage that is brought about by the cold wind of winter.

source: ourhabitatgarden

4. How to Make Leaf Mold

Creating a leaf mold will encourage the growth of helpful bacteria that is beneficial to the soil. It will also enrich the soil and in turn makes the crops that will be grown in the soil have a better quality and more yield during harvest. Making leaf mold is easy. If you have an empty composting bin, you can use this to pile up leaves and to keep them contained so that the breakdown process can start. You can also assemble your very own leaf mold container by building a very simple structure using chicken wires and used boards.  Also, keep your leaf mold wet at all times. This will help in the growth of fungi which is essential in the success of your leaf mold.

source: rhs.org

5. How to Control Weeds

You can use your leaf mold to control the growth of weeds in your garden during winter. To do this, just spread your leaf mold in your garden. The leaf mold will block the sun making it impossible for weed seeds to germinate.

source by : http://freshorganicgardening.com/5-how-tos-in-preparing-your-garden-for-winter/5/

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