The flower garden is the main decoration of the site. With the advent of the Internet, it has become much easier for flower growers to enrich their collections; they can enjoy abundant flowering and spicy aroma all season long.
Representatives of the flora look great among garden crops. Slender rows of lettuce and carrots, areas of potatoes or tomatoes can be divided using herbal, flowering annuals that do not reach more than 30-50 cm in height.
Such a neighborhood will also be useful in the event of pest dominance in the garden. You don’t always want to use liters of chemicals to kill aphids or onion flies, Colorado potato beetles or turtle bugs, whiteflies or nematodes.
Repellent plants help prevent insects from appearing on garden crops in two ways:
- Some repel midges with their smell, or distract them. For example, marigolds have a very persistent aroma, which is “feared” by nematodes and aphids, beetle larvae and wireworms.
- Other plants, on the contrary, are more attractive than the cabbage or cucumbers growing nearby. Calendula has this property.
We present the five leading flowers in the fight against pests in the garden.
Calendula
Calendula, or marigold, has many medicinal properties and is used in herbal medicine as an anti-inflammatory and antiseptic. And beautiful orange flowers are champions in the fight against aphids, from which rose gardens are best protected.They are also indispensable on nightshade plantations, reducing the population of the Colorado potato beetle.
To prevent fungal diseases nesting in the soil, it is recommended to use calendula as a green manure. The nutrients that are stored in its leaves and shoots have a beneficial effect on the fertile layer of soil on the site.
Catnip
Have earth fleas, aphids, Colorado potato beetles or carrot flies appeared on your plants? Sow catnip in your garden! It is unpretentious, blooms for a long time and is useful. And the dried leaves of this plant make a very tasty tea.
Nasturtium
To repel whiteflies and cabbage caterpillars from cabbage, the Colorado potato beetle from a nightshade plot, or the ubiquitous aphid, knowledgeable gardeners sow nasturtium. Bright orange inflorescences are also recommended to be placed near a bed with pumpkin crops - this will protect them from pests.
Marigold
In floriculture there are now more than 15 varieties of these flowers. Therefore, it’s easy to find one suitable for your garden. The uniqueness of this plant is its spicy-musky aroma.
Sow orderly rows of yellow curly annuals, and the number of aphids on lettuce, eggplant, strawberries, roses, and cabbage will decrease. If you need to protect strawberries from nematodes and cockchafer larvae, then marigolds are ideal here too.
In the fall, when the harvest is harvested and the marigolds no longer bloom, gardening gurus recommend making mulch out of them. Dry plants will protect the roots of perennials from pests.
Lavender
On your site, you can recreate the scene from the film “One Year in Provence” by sowing purple islands of lavender between the rose bushes. In addition to aesthetic pleasure, this will bring benefits: the light aroma repels flies and mosquitoes. And if you decorate the area around the gazebo with it, then evening gatherings over a cup of tea will be much more enjoyable.
There are many insect pests, as well as chemicals to kill them. But it is better to use environmentally friendly methods. Plant flowers!
