8 Plants That Repel Mosquitoes Naturally

MAY 13, 2015
Plant your own herbal mosquito repellent
PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER ANDERSON/GETTY IMAGES

Look: mosquitoes are awful. They may be great food for birds and bats, but you don’t want them hanging around your backyard. You also don’t want to cover yourself in harsh chemicals to repel them. So, aside from making your property less friendly to the buggers by getting rid of any standing water (including those rain gutters!), what can you do to keep them away?

It turns out that mosquitoes, along with many biting insects, are attracted to certain odors in human skin. They’re especially attracted to your body odor and other secretions, meaning that if you’re spending a lot of time running around and sweating, you can expect to have more mosquitos following you around. Alternately certain strong—or unpleasant to the bug—smells can both hide your scent and dissuade them from getting close enough to bite you. There are several plants with strong scents that we find pleasant, which you can use to help mask your own smell and keep nearby mosquitoes at a distance. 

You can’t just plant and be done, however. The aroma needs to be in the air around you, at the very least, and ideally on your skin. To get the maximum effect, crush herb leaves in your hands to release their perfume, and then rub the leaves and their oils over your skin. Here are eight herbs that work great and can be kept in pots on a porch, near a door, or anywhere else you plan to congregate outside.  

Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm( Photograph by Westend61/Getty Images )

This member of the mint family has white flowers and a gentle lemony scent, as well as some healing properties. It’s particularly good at keeping biting insects away, but it’s also an invasive species, so be careful when growing it. 

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