5 Natural Pest Deterrents to Make Your Landscape More Sustainable
Sustainability and efficiency are always in the top listed concerns of our clients, so the team here at Inspired Landscapes has plenty of experience guiding property owners and wineries through the steps to achieve these goals. While there are many approaches for landscape sustainability and efficiency, pest control is one of the most essential pieces to address.
Pests of all sorts can wreak havoc on a landscape and managing them can be costly and time consuming. However through clever landscaping design in Sonoma County to preemptively address potential pest issues, we can dramatically cut down on frustration, costs, and harmful chemicals often used to control pest infestations.
Here are 5 of our favorite ways to address these goals, focused on pest-repellant plants in your garden.
1. Planting Dill and Yarrow to Repel Aphids
Dill (Anethum gravelons) is a fantastic herb for its pest-repellent qualities. When creating insectary plantings with the goal of attracting beneficial insects and repelling undesirable ones, Dill is a must have. Its fragrant helps repel Aphids, as well as attracts Lacewing and Hoverflies which are voracious consumers of Aphids. Dill can be a valuable tool adjacent to vegetable and rose gardens as well as orchards.
Looking for ways to attract more butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden? Check out our blog!
2. Planting Fennel to Repel White Fly
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) works similarly to Dill where its fragrance repels White Fly and Aphids as well as attracting a variety of beneficial predatory insects including lady bugs and hoverflies. It’s important to carefully control Fennel plants and prevent them from spreading into surrounding native areas as it can be an unwelcome competitor to native plants. Pruning off flower heads before the produce seed can help control them. However they are powerhouses for helping control troublesome White Fly and Aphid infestations.
3. Rosemary Hedges to Repel Gophers and Moles
Strategically positioned Rosemary hedges readily repel gophers and moles from plantings nearby as their roots are fragrant similar to the above ground stems which these rodents find unbearable. In gardens with issues related to burrowing rodents, Rosemary is an essential plant ally which can reduce the need for trapping and entirely avoid the need to apply poisons which should always be avoided as poisoned rodents get eaten by predators up the food chain leading to the deaths of important species such as Owls and Raptors. If you’re looking for more tips and inspiration, check out our portfolio of professional landscaping work.
4. Sage Plantings to Repel Deer
Sage (Salvia) is an expansive genus in the family Lamiaceae which is host to countless stunning landscape plants exhibiting an incredible repellent quality to Deer and other grazing animals such as Rabbits. Thanks to its strong fragrance, deer almost always will avoid Sage of nearly all types. Despite each Sage having its own characteristics in fragrance, they are widely overlooked by deer even when food sources are low.
5. Hyssop Plantings to Repel Rabbits
Hyssop (Agastache) is a genus also belonging to the family Lamiaceae, commonly referred to as ‘mint family’, which possesses a strong fragrance as do most plants within the Lamiaceae family. Just as Sages are repellant for animals searching for a meal, Hyssop also exhibits remarkable resistance to being eaten by Rabbits, Deer, and any other animal passing through a garden. Utilizing these strong scented plants are essential low maintenance landscape ideas that can keep pests out!
Keep Your Landscape Efficient with Inspired Landscapes!
Nearly all pest repellant plants have a shared characteristic: strong fragrance! Using this rule of thumb you can craft your own plant pallets that will help reduce time and resources spent repelling them from your garden, allowing you more time to sit back and enjoy your landscape’s beauty!
Need some assistance planning out a sustainable landscape that keeps pests at bay? Contact Inspired Landscapes today! Give us a call at (707) 395-7474 to speak with one of our specialists today and learn more about how we can help you.
