Keep Pesky Ticks At Bay With The Help Of These 22 Beautiful Plants

While no plant can completely eliminate ticks, some are believed to repel these pests. This is important because keeping ticks away from your yard is essential. First and foremost, ticks are vectors of severe diseases, like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and anaplasmosis. These can have serious health consequences for both humans and pets. Preventing tick infestations in your outdoor spaces reduces the risk of exposure to these diseases, making everyone safer.

Yet not everyone wants to go the chemical route to keep them at bay. Instead, they reach for beautiful plants to get the job done naturally. Unlike chemical pesticides, which can have unintended negative impacts on non-target species, plants repel ticks without causing ecological imbalances Plus, relying on plants promotes a healthier ecosystem by attracting beneficial insects that prey on these pests, contributing to a more balanced and resilient garden environment. This approach aligns with sustainable gardening practices that prioritize long-term harmony between nature and humans. When you use plants to keep ticks at bay, you're safeguarding your yard and personal health. You're also supporting a more environmentally conscious and healthier outdoor space for all living organisms.

Rosemary is often used in cooking because it smells fantastic and has a subtle taste that really warms up a dish. However, for the palette of a nasty tick, the effect is the exact opposite. Rosemary is infused with some naturally potent oils. They are known as cineole and camphor, and they form a natural barrier around the plant that ticks find uninviting. The scent shield not only keeps them away from rosemary, but also makes the general vicinity less appealing, too.

While results can differ based on factors like concentration and environment, rosemary has exhibited a commendable track record in fending off ticks, proving that its charm extends beyond the kitchen. New research suggests that the Spanish variety of rosemary might be the best at keeping ticks away. In fact, it might even be as good as chemical options like DEET at fending off the little intruders.

Who doesn't love peppermint? Luckily for your yard, ticks hate it. Peppermint has an invigorating scent and cool essence, making it a formidable contender in the realm of tick prevention. This is because of the fragrant active compounds in peppermint plants, like menthol and pulegone. The chemicals release a potent fragrance that ticks find overwhelmingly displeasing, so they stay away from it. One thought is that the smell confuses and overwhelms the ticks' senses, making them disoriented. It becomes paralyzed by the smell, as the scent takes over the organ on its legs it uses to navigate.

Peppermint plants are perennial, which means they come back and keep growing year after year. They also tend to grow aggressively, making them easy to care for. Because of this, even beginner gardeners can rely on peppermint plants to keep their yards safe from ticks without too much work. However, plant them in containers, or they will spread across your entire yard.

Native to Australia but loved around the world, eucalyptus is known for its majestic presence and distinctive aroma. Yet the flowering tree has another amazing quality: It has a remarkable talent as a tick deterrent. The active compound found abundantly in its leaves is called eucalyptol. This compound emits a full-bodied scent that disrupts the sensory receptors of ticks, steering them away from its vicinity. They get confused and can't find their way, meaning they won't sneak into spaces where you don't want them.

Like most plants, eucalyptus is most effective against ticks in its distilled oil form. However, the tree does seep oil into the atmosphere around it. In areas with large amounts of trees, you can see this phenomenon with the naked eye, as the valley appears to be covered in a blue haze. So, eucalyptus serves as a prime example of nature's pest-fighting arsenal, offering both visual splendor and practical tick-repellent properties.

Marigolds are beautiful flowers with vibrantly colorful blooms. The flower has a pleasant, earthy aroma to humans, but ticks tend to hate the scent and have been known to stay away. The natural compounds present in marigolds, including thiophenes and pyrethroids, release a scent that ticks find repulsive. This aromatic defense mechanism interferes with their sensory receptors, discouraging their presence. In fact, pyrethroids are often used in many chemical insect repellants. However, research is still emerging on their effectiveness, but it's worth a shot.

Marigolds are also considered particularly easy to care for and rebloom each year. So even beginner gardeners (or seasoned pros who don't have the greenest thumbs) will find the flower's upkeep easy enough to handle. Plus, they're also known to repel other annoying pests, such as mosquitos and cabbage worms, but attract beneficial insects like ladybugs. This will create a harmonious balance in your garden. They're also great companion plants, so plant them next to your tomatoes and cucumbers to keep pests away.

Catnip, famed for its captivating effect on felines, holds another intriguing quality as a natural tick repellent. The plant has high concentrations of the compound nepetalactone. This organic compound, which is famous for its euphoric response in cats, is now also known for its remarkable ability to repel ticks from yards and outdoor spaces. The reason nepetalactone acts as a potent tick deterrent is due to its strong aroma and chemical properties. Studies have shown that nepetalactone can interfere with the sensory receptors of ticks, deterring their attraction to the area where catnip is present.

As a result, planting lots of catnip in your yard can reduce tick populations, providing a chemical-free and environmentally friendly solution to tick control. This natural approach not only offers a safer alternative to conventional pesticides, but also adds a touch of greenery and tranquility to outdoor spaces, benefiting both humans and their feline companions.

Pennyroyal is a resilient herb that has been used for centuries in both food and medicine. In more recent years, a new use for the traditional plant has emerged: a potent contender in the realm of tick avoidance. Pennyroyal is an herb deeply enriched with compounds known as pulegone and menthone. These are essential oils released from the plant that carry an intense minty fragrance. Ticks find this smell exceedingly unappealing. Like many other natural pest solutions, pennyroyal creates an aromatic barrier that interferes with their sensory perception, deterring them from colonizing the area.

The flower is beautiful, often blossoming with bright pink and blue flowers in the springtime. Amid the bloom, the human nose can pick up the plant's strong, minty scent. It's strong enough that even passersby can enjoy it. Because of its strong aroma and visual appeal, it is a gorgeous plant that you can be sure is working around the clock to keep ticks out of your yard.

Garlic is usually a vegetable that is used in the kitchen to add flavor to meals. However, if you were to grow garlic in a backyard garden, it's also possible to help keep ticks at bay. This is because the sulfur compounds that give garlic its pungent aroma, like allicin, create an environment that ticks find displeasing. This aromatic defense mechanism interferes with their sensory receptors and deters their presence. If you or your pet eats garlic, it will have much the same effect. If you eat a clove a day, it should repel pests from feeding on you.

However, plant garlic into the ground if you want to feel safer when working in the garden by knowing that the high grass isn't a threat because fewer ticks are lurking. The plant also has the bonus of being a rather attractive addition to a garden, as its tops tend to blossom into bright purple flowers that attract the kind of bugs you want in your yard.

Planting thyme can get rid of ticks in a hurry. The herb has long been cherished for its culinary and medicinal applications; however, if you grow some in your garden, you are also taking a step against tick prevention. These are a few essential oils found in thyme that work well to confuse and overwhelm ticks. The most notable are thymol and carvacrol. 

When eaten or crushed (or walked on as a tiny little tick), these oils will thoroughly coat ticks' small leg hairs. They use their legs to sense the world around them, as they are essentially blind and deaf. So if the sensors are coated in an oil with a strong smell, the ticks become overwhelmed and become immobilized. So, whether planted in gardens or used as essential oils and spritzed around your patio, this lush, leafy plant is a great natural way to keep ticks away.

Tansy is a popular flower to have in your garden because it is beautiful, bright, and yellow. The perennial flower is known to thrive in most parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. Aside from providing great visual interest to a yard, these yellow clusters of flowers hold a lesser-known but significant role as a natural tick repellent. Studies suggest that the petals have high concentrations of the essential oils thujone and camphor. While the oils do best to repel ticks in their distilled forms, there might also be enough oil on the flowers to keep ticks at bay.

The oils present in tansy flowers work much in the same way as other natural tick repellents. When they coat the sensory preceptors on a tick's legs, they find the potent aroma repulsive. The ticks are immobilized since their sensory preceptors are knocked out. However, it's essential to note that tansy contains toxic compounds and should be used cautiously, especially around pets and children.

Rue is an herb with a storied history of both medicinal and magical uses. You might also hear it called common rue or herb-of-grace. While the plant originates from the Balkan Peninsula, it is famous around the world because of its bright flowers and pretty bluish leaves. It is an easy plant to care for as it doesn't require much water or care. In the modern age, it also stands out as a potent repellent for ticks. Rue leaves have quite a strong smell, which many pests don't like and tend to stay away from, including ticks.

While no scientific studies have officially been conducted to test the plant's efficacy, many gardeners anecdotally recommend the plant as a line of defense. However, it's important to note that rue contains compounds that can be toxic in high amounts and particularly harm pregnant women, so be careful not to ingest it, even though you want the ticks to. 

Floss flower, scientifically known as ageratum, has emerged as a surprising contender in the realm of natural tick prevention. Although the plant is primarily cherished for its vibrant violet-blue blooms, floss flower also contains a compound called coumarin. This compound releases a fragrance that ticks find unappealing. This aromatic defense mechanism disorients the ticks, eventually killing them. However, to humans, the scent of the compound is actually quite pleasant, even being used in perfumes.

While floss flower's efficacy as a tick repellent is not as widely studied as other plants, its potential is intriguing, as it has been known to repel mosquitos. Because of this, its use as a natural option for getting rid of ticks as well is gaining attention in the gardening community. Floss flower showcases the diversity of nature's strategies in deterring pests, offering a visually appealing and fragrant approach to keeping ticks at bay.