Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:49 pm
You can’t get enough of your little bottles of essential oils for your beauty products and home cleaning as well as to heal your little aches and pains and add a touch of class to your dishes? Why not also take their benefits into the garden where organic essential oils can help you concoct great repellents and remedies for small plant ailments? For example, did you know that you can have prettier potted tomatoes by watering them with a few drops of basil essential oil? If you are a gardener and an aromatherapy enthusiast, discover powerful uses of pure or diluted essential oils that will do your garden good.
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1) Treat insect bites
For any sting or bite, you can rely on one or two drops of fine lavender oil pure or diluted in oil or aloe vera. For a more elaborate and effective version for a particularly annoying fresh bite, you can dilute in a teaspoon of organic cider vinegar (or sweet almond vegetable oil) 2 drops of true lavender essential oil, 2 drops of chamomile essential oil and 1 drop of basil essential oil. Apply directly to the affected skin with a cotton ball.
2) Repel garden pests with essential oils
Different oils work on different pests. We recommend creating an insecticide with a spray bottle filled with water and 10 drops of each of these oils:
1) Peppermint essential oil (spiders, aphids, white flies, ants, bugs, fleas, beetles…)
2) Thyme essential oil (biting insects, ticks, cockroaches, bugs …)
3) Clove essential oil (flying insects)
4) Rosemary essential oil (flies, fleas, mosquitoes, larvae …)
You will have to mix it at each use! You can also use them separately for a repulsive effect on a specific species. If that doesn’t work, buy neem oil to dehydrate and kill difficult pests (including eggs and larvae).
3) Scare off rodents fast
You may love peppermint essential oil, but the same cannot be said for rodents, which it effectively repels. So you can put cotton balls soaked in this oil in holes, nests and places where people pass through.
4) To chase away pets
Whether it’s the neighbor’s cat or your own, you may not want to see them prowling around and scratching at the vegetable garden or flower beds (with a few poops thrown in here and there for good measure)! Here you can opt for rosemary oil, the smell of which is unbearable for them. A few strings or strips of fabric soaked in this scent to tie between the rows and around the garden or a mulch placed on the plants sprayed with water and a few drops of rosemary EO will do the job if you remember to renew the smell. For dogs, use black pepper essential oil instead. However, be careful not to overuse it so that it doesn’t become unpleasant for you too!
5) Against fungi on plants
Unfortunately, they cause diseases and damage the health of the plant. So you have to act fast to avoid seeing a plant die quickly. You can put a few dozen drops of antifungal essential oil in a spray bottle filled with water. Then spray the liquid on the areas that need to be treated. Neem oil can be used here again, but also the very classic fungicidal tea tree oil. If you don’t have any of these oils, there are other options. For example, try thyme, clove, oregano, cinnamon, garlic, peppermint…
6) Against gastropods
Can’t stand slugs and snails? Then rely on the repellent powers of cedar, pine or hyssop. In fact, a ring soaked in a mixture of oil and water will do the trick and make them not want to come near.
7) Bring pollinators into the garden en masse with essential oils they love!
We always want to repel, but why not attract a few critters with essential oils for a change? After all, pollinators are your plants’ best friends! For bees, consider orange blossom, lavender, marjoram, hyssop, sage, basil or even rosemary. Finally, for butterflies, consider sage, fennel, yarrow, lavender or catmint.