In an effort to be either frugal, healthy, or both many people take up vegetable gardening! The problem with that is when your plants start to grow little bugs move in too! Below is a list of plants that help keep the little critters away so you can enjoy the fruits…. I mean vegetables… of you labor!
Jeremiah 29:5
‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce.
| Plant | Pests |
|---|---|
| artemisias | repels insects,[2] including ants, cabbage looper, cabbage maggot, carrot fly, codling moth, flea beetles, whiteflies, the Cabbage White, and the Small White, as well as mice[3] |
| basil | repels flies, including mosquitoes[2][4] and the carrot fly, plus asparagus beetles and whiteflies[3] |
| borage | repels tomato hornworm and cabbage worms[2] |
| castor bean | repels moles[3] |
| catnip | repels ants, flea beetles, aphids, the Japanese beetle, squash bugs, weevils,[2] the Colorado potato beetle, the cabbage looper,[3] and cockroaches[4] |
| chamomile | repels flying insects[4] |
| chives | repels carrot fly, Japanese beetle,[2] and aphids[3] |
| chrysanthemums | repel roaches, ants, the Japanese beetle, ticks, silverfish, lice, fleas, bedbugs, and root-knot nematodes[2] |
| citronella grass | repels insects, may deter cats[5] |
| citrosa | repels insects,[5] including mosquitoes[4] |
| clovers | repel aphids and wireworms[3] |
| common lantana | repels mosquitoes[1] |
| coriander | repels aphids, Colorado potato beetle, and spider mites[3] |
| cosmos | repel the corn earworm |
| crown imperial | repel rabbits, mice, moles, voles and ground squirrels[6] |
| dahlias | repel nematodes[2] |
| dill | repels aphids, squash bugs, spider mites,[2] the cabbage looper, the tomato hornworm, and the Small White[3] |
| eucalyptus | repels aphids, the cabbage looper, and the Colorado potato beetle[3] |
| fennel | repels aphids, slugs, and snails[3] |
| fever tea | repels mosquitoes[1] |
| four o’clocks | attract and poison the Japanese beetle[2] |
| French marigold | repels whiteflies, kills nematodes[2] |
| garlic | repels aphids, Japanese beetle, carrot fly, codling moth, snails, root maggots,[2] cabbage looper, Mexican bean beetle, peach tree borer, and rabbits[3] |
| geraniums | repel leafhoppers, the corn earworm, and the Small White[3] |
| hyssop | repels the cabbage looper and the Small White[3] |
| larkspurs | repel aphids[3] |
| lavender | repels moths, fleas, and flies, including mosquitoes[4] |
| leek | repels carrot fly[3] |
| lemon balm | repels mosquitoes[4] |
| lemon thyme | repels mosquitoes[4] |
| lettuce | repels carrot fly[3] |
| lime basil | repels mosquitoes[1] |
| Mexican marigold | repels insects and rabbits[2] |
| myrrh | repels insects[5] |
| narcissus | repel moles[3] |
| nasturtiums | repel whiteflies, squash bugs,[2] aphids, many beetles, and the cabbage looper[3] |
| onion | repels rabbits, the cabbage looper, and the Small White[3] |
| oregano | repellent to many pests[3] |
| parsley | repels asparagus beetles[3] |
| peppermint | repels aphids, cabbage looper, flea beetles, squash bugs, whiteflies, and the Small White[3] |
| petunias | repel aphids, tomato hornworm, asparagus beetles, leafhoppers,[2] and squash bugs[3] |
| pitcher plants | traps and ingests insects |
| radish | repels cabbage maggot and cucumber beetles[3] |
| rosemary | repels cabbage looper, carrot fly, slugs, snails, and the Mexican bean beetle[3] |
| rue | repels cucumber and flea beetles |
| spearmint | repels fleas, moths, ants, beetles, rodents,[4] aphids, squash bugs, and the cabbage looper[3] |
| spiny amaranth | repels cutworms |
| stone root | repels mosquitoes[5] |
| summer savory | repels bean beetles[3] |
| tansy | repels ants, many beetles and flies, squash bugs, cutworms, Small White, and Cabbage White[3] |
| thyme | repels cabbage looper, cabbage maggot, corn earworm, whiteflies, tomato hornworm, and Small White |
| tobacco | repels carrot fly and flea beetles[3] |
| tomato | repels asparagus beetles[3] |
| venus flytrap | ingests insects[4] |