17 Plants that Repel Mosquitoes while Beautifying your Yard
Consider adding plants that repel mosquitoes to your garden this year. If you like to hang out on your property once the weather warms, you’ll quickly notice if you have a mosquito problem.
Before spraying your yard with harsh chemicals, try adding a few plants that bugs tend to avoid. Make sure you don’t have standing water around your house, also. No need to provide extra breeding grounds for the tiny bloodsuckers.
The plants that repel mosquitoes listed below have additional uses, as well. If you’re into gardening and use herbs often, hopefully, you can share more ideas with us.
Some are edible, and some can be dried for aromatherapy use and even to make your own beauty products.
Or, simply plant them in your yard or in pots to set around your house. They’ll add beauty to your property while they help shoo off unwanted insects. This post contains affiliate links.
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Plants that Insects HATE!
Why do mosquitoes bite some people more than others?
Mosquitoes show no mercy. Some people get bitten more than others. People also react differently to mosquito bites. Here are a few reasons why you may or may not be chosen as a delicacy at the BBQ.
- Cholesterol on the skin surface. If your body is efficiently processing cholesterol, your reward is extra attention from mosquitoes.
- Activity. The more active you are, the more carbon dioxide you emit and the more you sweat. Carbon dioxide is how the mosquitos find you. They also cannot resist the lactic acid produced by your sweat glands. They also love uric acid. Yum.
- Genetics. Yep, 85% of our attractiveness to mosquitos depends on our gene pool.
Those are just three of the several discoveries researchers report on why some people are more attractive to mosquitoes. But, let’s talk about the pretty plants you can add to your home to try to keep mosquitoes away.
17 Plants that Repel Mosquitoes
Vanilla Leaf: Rub dry or fresh leaves on the skin as a natural insect repellant.
Lavender: Long purple flowers that give off a strong scent. Many people find the scent of lavender relaxing while insects like to avoid it. This plant looks gorgeous in your yard, and you can dry it to use in countless DIY beauty products.
Rosemary: This versatile plant can even season your food. Mosquitoes shy away from the strong aroma of rosemary while many humans extract the oils to use in sugar scrubs, lotions, and other health and beauty products.
Tea Tree: Tea tree is another fragrant plant that may even repel some people. If you’ve never smelled tea tree, be sure to do so before planting. Like eucalyptus, it seems to be a scent people either love or hate.
Lemongrass: This is a beautiful grass that grows pretty tall and bushes out. It has been known to ward off those pesky mosquitoes.
Tansy: Beautiful yellow round flowers adorn this plant, and the oils found in this plant have known health benefits.
Catnip: If you have a cat or two, this can work for both, repelling mosquitoes and letting your cats enjoy some catnip.
Pineapple Weed: A fun name and beautiful aroma, you can also use pineapple weed in salads.
Snowbrush: In certain areas, snowbrush is considered a weed, but you may want to leave it since it seems to repel mosquitoes well.
Marigolds: A hearty plant that is relatively easy to maintain. Marigolds are a popular border around vegetable gardens to help steer away variety of pests.
Peppermint: Soothing to us yet repulsive to insects, most biting bugs try to avoid the strong scent of peppermint.
Garlic: There’s something to that legend about garlic warding off bloodsuckers. Grow your own garlic to flavor up your cooking and help ward off evil insects as it grows.
Floss Flower: Add some beautiful color to your landscaping with floss flowers. The colorful round flower heads attract butterflies while their scent repulses mosquitoes.
Sweet Fern: Toss some in your next bonfire as this plant works best when burned.
Basil: Talk about a multipurpose herb, basil does so much. Dry it for seasoning, extract the oil to make a spray to repel bugs, add fresh leaves to flavor water, and so much more.
Citronella: Chances are good that you’ve seen citronella products on the market but it’s also a plant you can grow into a nice grass.
Lemon Balm: Another herb that is known to help calm and relax people, but has the opposite effect on mosquitoes. Are you noticing a pattern here?
Sometimes it’s best to try a natural approach to yard pests. There are many plants that repel mosquitos, so give a few of these a try before you purchase harsh chemicals.
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Do you know of any other plants that repel mosquitoes and insects?
Mosquitoes seem to love me. We always add marigolds for exactly this reason.
I didn’t know you could find some of those items on amazon! We are in Florida, mosquito city for real, and need all the help we can get.
I could use some of these plants in my yard this year. I have seen so many mosquitoes that it isn’t even funny. I think they must have nested in my yard. I hate mosquitoes.
Great suggestions for keeping the bugs at bay. Our biggest problem is flies during the summer, but mosquitoes are a close second.
I have a ton of these growing in my backyard and most are really easy to grow. I am one of those people that mosquitos LOVE to bite! I use a lot of herbal bug repellent, too, and it works fairly well.
i have several of these for many reason. several of the herbs are supposed to keep the deer away as well, but does not work. i cant seem to keep my rosemary alive year round. i love the smell of it.
I have the same problem with Rosemary. It always dies in March.
Thank you for this list. I have never heard of the floss flower…will have to look that up.
I would be happy to have any of these plants in my yard. We are lucky we do not have many mosquitos, but ants are our problem.
The mosquitos are already out in force here! Good tips, thanks!
Lemon grass repels mesquitos. Also,if you put up a bat house,bats eat thousands of mesquitos. Just be sure to put the house on a spot with no sun during the day since that is when they sleep and hot summer temperatures will kill them
Oooh, I love the idea of a bat house, Vanessa. Thank you for that tip! I will have to research that for my own yard. 🙂