Grow This Herb To Keep Ants Away From Your Home And Garden
Although there are some extreme methods of dealing with ants around the yard, it's always a good idea to consider alternatives to insecticides and the use of dangerous chemicals and poisons. Pennyroyal is known to repel ants from the yard and garden and can be well worth growing if you want to keep them away. Pennyroyal is part of the mint family and has an incredibly aromatic and sweet scent that ants put effort into avoiding. If you plant pennyroyal in some strategic locations around your yard and home, such as entry points, your problem may go away easier than you might have expected.
It's important to realize, however, that ants are beneficial to the yard in some ways. They can help get rid of other pests such as fleas and termites, aerate soil, and fertilize plants in your garden. If you're interested in experiencing these benefits, you may want to leave the ants in your garden alone. On the other hand, ants can also attract aphids that eat plants and this can lead to issues in your garden. Although they can help to aerate the soil and fertilize plants, some ants can cause a lot of structural and yard damage if left unchecked. Nearly all ants sting and bite humans and this can be problematic if you have kids. You may want to plant some pennyroyal to keep ants out of your yard and garden.
How to use pennyroyal to keep ants away
Planting some pennyroyal around the yard is a great way to deter ants and keep it safe from this pest. It should be noted, however, that pennyroyal grows quite well and could overtake a garden fairly quickly. It's an introduced plant that can become problematic in the wrong circumstances. To prevent this plant from overtaking your yard you may want to grow it in a plastic tin before planting it in the ground or grow it in another type of container or hanging basket. It's also a good idea to prune your pennyroyal plants regularly to keep them from spreading and keep them looking nice and tidy. You can follow these tips to keep your mint plants happy and healthy during winter.
You may want to reconsider growing pennyroyal if you have pets. Pennyroyal oil contains a poison known as pulegone which is toxic to both cats and dogs but can be especially detrimental to cats. The essential oil can cause liver damage if ingested and direct contact can lead to dermatitis. So while casual contact with the plant might not be an immediate danger, it may not be right for pet owners.
Other methods for using pennyroyal
If you're dedicated to getting rid of ants without poisons, there are other ways to use pennyroyal to get rid of ants and other pests that don't involve growing it yourself. You may want to consider using pennyroyal essential oil. You can simply rub the essential oil anywhere ants are entering your home or may be tempted to enter such as on doors and around windows. The scent can help to confuse ants and stop them in their tracks. However, you'll likely need to reapply it regularly to ensure it keeps doing its job. Use extreme caution with this method if you have pets and only spread the oil in places they can't access.
Crushed leaves can be more flexible than growing the plant itself and can provide you with some additional uses. You can take some pennyroyal leaves and sprinkle them anywhere you would like to deter pests, such as ants. You can also add them to clothing or directly to the skin to repel pests of all kinds.