Essential Oils & Gardening
Essential oils are a handy, non-toxic tool to utilize within the organic garden. Whether you desire to deter pests from your precious plants or attract pollinators to your garden, essential oils are sure to be useful. Below are several of our favorite ways to incorporate essential oils around the yard and in the garden.
GARDEN SPRAY
This spray wards off a variety of garden pests such as aphids, squash bugs, flies, ants, beetles, chiggers, ticks, roaches, and more.
In an 8 ounce spray bottle, combine 6-8 drops of each:
Cedarwood
Clove
Lemongrass
Peppermint
Rosemary
Thyme
Fill to the neck of the bottle with clean, filtered water and secure spray nozzle. Shake well before applying. Spray the dirt at the base of the plant or the plant itself in the morning or at dusk.
To give this pest deterrent even more power add neem oil, which is a natural insecticide. Neem oil dissolves the waxy coating on hard to kill garden pests which eventually dehydrates and kills them.
POLLINATOR ATTRACTOR
To attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies to your garden, fill an small bowl with water and add a few drops of one or a few of the following:
Wild Orange
Lavender
Marjoram
Basil
Helichrysum
Fennel
PETS AND RODENTS
To dissuade mice and other rodents, place a couple drops of peppermint essential oil on cotton balls and place near any visible holes, burrows, or nests; or place where you are having a rodent problem.
Additionally, dogs and cats often like to visit the garden. To discourage cats, use Rosemary essential oil and for dogs Black Pepper. Simply spray the oils diluted in water around the garden. Another option would be to whisk several drops of oil together with water and soak strips of cloth in the solution. Hang or place the cloth strips strategically in your garden to deter cats or dogs from coming by.
FUNGICIDE
Melaleuca or Tea Tree oil is a natural fungicide for plants. Not only will Melaleuca prevent fungus from growing in the garden, it will also kill most fungal species. Prepare a spray including one tablespoon of Melaleuca to one cup of water to treat existing fungus and prevent more from coming. Be sure avoid spraying the leaves of plants in the very hot sun to avoid the Melaleuca burning the plants. It is best to use this treatment at dusk.
It is important to note that not all essential oils perform equally. To learn more about essential oils, read this article.