6 Unique Ways to Use Essential Oils in Your Garden

Essential oils serve many purposes outdoors as well as indoors.

For example, you can create your own insecticide for plants, attract bees and other pollinators, or keep pets from using your vegetable patch as a litter box.

Read on to learn how to put essential oils to use in your garden.

1. Create a Homemade Insecticide for Your Garden

You can buy pesticides at the hardware or grocery store. However, many of them contain harmful chemicals that have serious health and environmental risks.

To avoid skin rashes, kidney and liver damage and neurotoxicity, we recommend using essential oils and a few other ingredients to create a safe bug spray for plants.

There are numerous essential oils that repel insects. In particular, lemongrass drives away mosquitoes so you can work more comfortably in your vegetable and flower beds.

Gather the following ingredients and materials:

• 4 oz Clean Spray Bottle
• Witch Hazel
• Lemongrass Essential Oil 
• Distilled Water

Instructions:

1. Pour 2 ounces of distilled water into the spray bottle.

2. Add an ounce of witch hazel.

3. Add 50 drops of essential oils.

4. Shake and mix well before spraying (The oils and water will separate otherwise.)

To create a better-smelling insecticide add your favorite essential oils such as tea tree, peppermint, eucalyptus and lemon.

This effective DIY bug spray won't harm the environment, you, or your plants.

2. Eradicate Fungus

Besides acting as a natural bug spray for plants, essential oils kill fungus.

We recommend tea tree oil to prevent fungal growth and kill fungi that threaten your plants.

Mix about one tablespoon of tea tree oil with a cup of water in a spray bottle and spray directly on infected areas of your plants up to two times per week.

This mixture also prevents further fungal infestation.

Tip: In hot weather, spray the plants after the sun has gone down to avoid burning the leaves.

3. Discourage Pets From Using the Garden as a Litterbox

Cats and dogs have a tendency to use your garden as a litter box.

Since this is especially detrimental to vegetable and herb gardens, we recommend using essential oils to keep your pets out of the garden.

Cats despise the smell of rosemary. So, keep a spray bottle with a mixture of water and rosemary essential oil handy to keep the neighborhood cats out of your garden.

4. Deter Beetles on Your Rose Bushes

It turns out that beetles are surprisingly picky. You can use this to your advantage by using peppermint or thyme essential oils to deter them from your rose bushes.

5. Keep Rodents Away From Your Vegetables

Rats and mice are never welcome visitors in your yard or anywhere else on your property for that matter.

To keep them out of the garden, soak cotton balls in essential oil and place them at obvious entry points to your garden.

If you can locate squirrel nests or mouseholes, placing cotton balls doused with essential oil nearby can encourage these rodents to set up house elsewhere.

6. Attract Bees to Pollinate Your Garden

You can also use lavender and other essential oils to attract butterflies and bees. These pollinators help your flowers and vegetables reproduce and grow.

Shop our essential oils below whether you're looking to improve your garden or overall well-being.

Related Posts:

• What Are the Powerful Health Benefits of These 8 Essential Oils?
• A Guide to Natural Herbicides, Pesticides and Fungicides for Your Garden
• Rodent Roundup: Natural Solutions for Keeping Critters Out of Your Garden