How to deal with pests in your herb garden

May 7 | Household Tips, Gardening

A beautiful herb garden is a great addition to your home but can be difficult if pests find your garden a good home to live in. With a little planning and maintenance, you can protect your garden and help it thrive. Here are 5 tips to help you out.

Use Strong Smelling Herbs

Take advantage of plants that repel pests for your herb garden. Planting pungent herbs like mints along with other herbs will help reduce the number of pests you have to deal with. Herbs like catnip are great for repelling ants, weevils, squash bugs, aphids, and Beatles.

Use Flowering Herbs

A great way to deal with pests in your herb garden is to plant herbs that will attract beneficial insects. Flowering herbs like lavender, basil and dill are a great way to attract butterflies and bees that will help pollinate your garden and make your plants stronger.

Use a Bug House

Place a bug house in your herb garden to attract insects like parasitic wasps that will deal with leafminers and hornworms and ladybugs that will help protect your garden from aphids. A bug house is an easy way to encourage beneficial bugs to come to your garden and stay to protect it from pests.

Use Salt

Snails and slugs can be a common issue in herb gardens. A line of salt along the garden bed edging is a great way to keep them out of your garden. Slugs and snails will back up and go the other way if they touch the salt instead of venturing into your garden beds and pots.

Use a Soap Solution

If aphids take over your garden you can save your herbs by spraying them with a safe and effective soap solution. A teaspoon of dawn dish detergent or liquid Castile soap in a spray bottle with water can help kill aphids when they take over your herb garden. Spray this solution on your plants getting the undersides of leaves in the evening so it has plenty of time to dry before the sun beats down on your plants.

With these tips, make your herb garden a great addition to your home garden. Besides fresh herbs are the best for cooking with!