Top Plants That Repel Ants: Keep Your Home Ant-Free Naturally

by John Griffith
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Ants are a normal and certain aspect of gardening. These little bugs can be of great help around the garden. They help to aerate soil, spread seeds, prey on some bad insects, and more.However, these tiny little creatures can quickly become a big problem if they are left unaddressed. Plus, alongside their benefits, they also create a ton of issues. Ants like to herd pests like aphids in your garden for their honeydew, damage seedlings, and like to invade your home in search of sweets. Yikes! That is why you need to deal with them before they start multiplying and taking over your garden and home. But since they do have benefits, it’s not a great idea to kill them with harsh chemicals. Instead, you can use some of the following strong-smelling plants that repel ants to keep them away from certain areas of your home.

Ants like to herd pests like aphids in your garden for their honeydew

ants crawling on leaves

Top Plants That Repel Ants

Unless you want to be seeing columns of tiny ants all around in your outdoor and indoor space, it’s time to act. While it’s not recommended to fully eradicate this little bug, they can be quite annoying. That’s why the best way to proceed is to add some plants that repel ants around the areas you want to keep them away from, like your home or certain plants. These plant’s strong smells are what makes the ants change their trajectory, making them an effective way to keep ants out. Plants are a beautiful and creative way to deal with these little pests. It’s also safe!

The best way to proceed is to add some plants that repel ants around your property

row of ants walking on red surface

#Mint

Mint is famous for its aromatic properties and versatility in the kitchen. And while we may love this herb’s fresh smell, it seems ants aren’t the biggest fan of it. Some of this herb’s most popular varieties including spearmint, peppermint, corn mint and apple mint are all high in potent chemical compositions that make an effective bug deterrent. The highest concentration are found in the leaves, so just ribbing them will release the oils making the smell even more unbearable for the insects.

Mint is famous for its aromatic properties and versatility in the kitchen

plants that repel ants mint plant in pot

#Catnip

Catnip is quite the potent herb thanks to its volatile compounds. While the aroma from its leaves and shoots makes cats gravitate towards it, ants, as well as other insects try their best to avoid it. That is because catnip’s essential oils are composed of napetalactone, which is a terpenoid with famous pest-repellent qualities. So, if you want a pest free property, make sure to plant some catnip all around.

Catnip is quite the potent herb thanks to its volatile compounds

purple cat nip plant

#Sage

Sage is famous for its medicinal and aromatic properties. Its mildly sweet fragrance does a great job at deterring insects, including ants, away from your property. You can make its effects extra strong by pulverizing some fresh leaves in order to release a stronger scent. The leaves contain a variety of acids, vitamins, and glycosides which is toxic to a variety of insects, so they will try to avoid this plant and stay far away from it.

Sage is famous for its medicinal and aromatic properties

white and green sage leaves

#Lavender

Oh, beautiful lavender. This wonderful plant is a joy to the eyes and the nose. Well, as long as you are not an ant or a fly, moth, flea, or mosquito. The strong smell of this plant keeps a bunch of creepy crawlies far away from your garden or home while attracting pollinators like bees and butterflies. It’s a beautiful addition both to your home and garden and when dried can be used for tea.

This wonderful plant is a joy to the eyes and the nose

plants that repel ants putple lavender plant

#Rosemary

While you may not be taken aback by the strength of this herb’s smell, rosemary actually releases a really strong, intense odor that ants can smell. And they don’t like this smell at all. This makes it a great plant to keep ants far away. Oh, and it can also be used in a variety of dishes, which makes it even more useful to have around. You can grow it inside or in the garden depending on where you have more of an ant problem.

Rosemary actually releases a really strong, intense odor that ants can smell

rosemary plant in metal pot

#Chrysanthemum

These beautiful flowers are a popular ant repellant plant that will look great in your backyard. Chrysanthemums contain pyrethrum, which is a natural insecticide and helps keep a variety of bugs far away from your home. This includes cockroaches, fleas, spider mites, and even bed bugs. It comes in a variety of beautiful colors, so it works to keep up the aesthetics of your garden and keep it pest free.

These beautiful flowers are a popular ant repellant plant

pink and orange chrysanthemums

#Basil

Basil is super easy to grow, keeps ants away and has a ton of application in the kitchen, making it a great choice. This herb has strong aromatic oils which do a great job at keep away a variety of creepy crawlies – ants, spiders, mosquitos and more. Basil has no problem being grown in the garden or on your kitchen windowsill, so you can put it pretty much anywhere you like as long as it has access to direct sunlight.

This herb has strong aromatic oils which do a great job at keep away a variety of creepy crawlies

green basil leaves p close

These were some of the most effective plants that repel ants and keep them far away from your home and garden. We hope you found this article useful. Now you can easily use these plants as a pest repellant and have an ant-free outdoor and indoor space.

These were some of the most effective plants that repel ants

ants eating a big piece of food

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John Griffith

John Griffith is a young, passionate journalist. Writing has been John’s hobby ever since he was a boy. He has worked in some of the UK’s most successful news portals over the course of his professional career but found his forever home at Archzine.