If you’re on a journey to eliminate toxins from your home as much as you can, you’ll want to look at using some natural products outside as well. Typical herbicides and pesticides are some of the most toxic products that you can purchase in the store so why not use a much safer alternative?
Essential oils can help make your gardening experience much more enjoyable for a few reasons; you won’t have to wear protective gear to spray your garden with essential oils, it’ll smell absolutely wonderful, and you won’t need to worry about your children and pets going into the garden after it’s been sprayed with essential oils.
Always use high quality essential oils from a trusted source. There IS a difference and you get what you pay for! I will only use Young Living Essential Oils because I trust the purity of their oils. Never purchase Young Living essential oils from a third party like Amazon because you won't know what's actually in the bottle.
Always dilute essential oils for the garden, full strength is way too strong for your plants, unless you’re using it as a herbicide!
Garden TipsCinnamon oil can kill weeds if sprayed directly on the weeds, avoid spraying on other plants though, or they will also die.
Cats dislike rosemary. Spray the mulch around your plants with a water/rosemary essential oil mixture or dip strips of cloth in a water/rosemary essential oil mixture and hang where cats like to dig.
For dogs and other large mammals use cloth strips dipped in water/black pepper essential oil mixture and hang throughout garden.
Try cotton balls with 1-2 drops of peppermint oil tucked into the entrance of mouse holes and other rodent burrows. Replace as needed.
If you have ants coming in your house, try a line of peppermint essential oil wherever they’re coming in.
Make a spray of 50/50 apple cider vinegar and water, add a few drops of peppermint and spray your screens with it. It smells so refreshing when the breeze blows through and helps keep the bugs away!
Slugs/Snails don’t like cedarwood, hyssop, patchouli, and pine! Make a mixture of either of them or a combo with water, spray in a ring around the plants. Refresh often.
Food grade diatomaceous earth is another good slug remover. It’s non toxic to humans and pets, but it sticks to insects and wicks moisture causing dehydration. Sprinkle it around the garden wherever you notice slugs.
Try planting a few plants throughout your garden that repel insects;
citronella, garlic, lemon balm, pennyroyal, catnip, rosemary, marigolds, scented geranium, basil, lavender, peppermint
Essential oils aren’t just for getting rid of the insects you don’t want in your garden, you can also use some oils to attract natural pollinators to your garden. Bees, ladybugs, and butterflies are attracted to neroli, lavender, coriander, hyssop, marjoram, helichrysum, basil, sage, fennel, and rosemary essential oils.
Companion Planting with Essential Oils
Add about 3 drops of essential oil to a gallon of water.
Basil oil - asparagus, broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, roses, peppers, beans
Lavender oil - green beans, apples, grapes
Sage oil - Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, zucchini
Rosemary oil - cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower
Lavender essential oil enriches the soil if you add 2-3 drops of it to the soil around a plant.
Epsom salt is a great addition to your garden! It improves flower blooming and allows plants to take in more nutrients. Add 1 tbsp to a gallon of water and spray the plants.
Anti fungal Spray
1 tsp neem oil
1/3 tsp liquid castille soap
3 drops tea tree essential oil
1 drop oregano essential oil
1 quart of water
Mix ingredients together and do a test patch on a plant. Wait 24 hours to make sure there are no adverse effects then spray the entire plant, coating each leaf so the spray can do its job.
Don’t use it in direct sunlight, extreme temperatures, or when the plant is stressed with bad growing conditions.(too wet or dry).
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