Not only do essential oils offer medicinal properties, they’re also used for gardening work. The essential oils make an excellent ingredient to make gardening spray. These sprays are effective in repelling pests, then preventing diseases. They may even attract beneficial pollinators to your garden. If you’re looking for natural yet powerful gardening methods, you should never skip these. You always keep some essential oils in your home right? Why not use them for your gardening? They will keep you amazed!
So, here are 10 best essential oils for gardening you should know. If you want to make full use of these oils, just give these a try. Your garden plants get huge benefits with them and you also become wise gardeners. It’s worth mentioning that these chemical-free gardening tools are budget-friendly. You can find them at any store or pharmacy. Here is how to make your essential oil spray: Take 4-6 drops of essential oil in a spray bottle. Fill it 3/4th with water, stir and your mixture is ready! To get best results, you should spray the plants in early morning or evening, as the cool atmosphere helps in quick absorption.
#1 Rosemary Essential Oil
Producing a woody scent, rosemary essential oil has is a great option for pest control in the garden. It can help deter pests like aphids, cabbage butterfly, flea beetles, ants, and more. You can use it to make essential oil tea for cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. All it takes is to put a few drops, in the pot, to keep the bugs away from chewing up the foliage.
#2 Peppermint Essential Oil
Peppermint essential oil features a strong, sweet fragrance. It is effective in repelling many garden pests like flies, aphids, spiders, cutworms, slugs, and beetles. This essential oil also help prevent mice, squirrels, and moles. Here is how to proceed this: soak a cotton ball with few drops of peppermint oil and place it on the infected areas, or near the mole tunnels.
#3 Melaleuca Essential Oil
Melaleuca Essential Oil is a perfect fungus repellant. Just make a spray with 1 part melaleuca essential oil and four parts water and mist the plants and soil. Easy, right?
#4 Lavender Essential Oil
This essential oil is not only excellent in repelling pests but also appealing to pollinators like bees and butterflies. Simply take a few drops of this essential oil in a cotton ball and place it near the pots. You can also make a spray with water and mist the affected area with the solution.
#5 Orange Essential Oil
Orange essential oil makes your gardening an interesting destination to pollinators. Simply mix it with lavender or rosemary essential oil to prepare a solution. Pour it in a spray bottle or soak some drops on a cotton ball, and place or spray it on pots to attract the pollinators.
#6 Cinnamon Essential Oil
Cinnamon essential oil shows off strong smell that works best for getting rid of weeds and pests like ants, snails, gnats. It is also helpful for preventing fungus. Make a solution with 10-15 drops of cinnamon oil and water. Use this spray on weeds or other infected areas.
#7 Tea Tree Essential Oil
Tea tree oil ranks first of its kind in repellling fungus. Make oil spray by diluting it with water to prevent fungal infections like blights that damage potatoes and tomatoes in the garden or powdery mildew in cucurbits.
#8 Basil Essential Oil
Basil essential oil is helpful for keeping the insects away from plants like beans, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, and potatoes.
#9 Clove Essential Oil
You can use clove essential oil to kill weeds, prevent mildew/fungus/mold, and repel insects on plants and soil. Use it as a spray, or on a cotton ball, soaked with the solution, on your plants and soil.
#10 Oregano Essential Oil
Producing a strong smell, oregano oil is an effective repellent to fungal. Also, you can use it to prevent flying pests like greenfly, carrot fly, mosquitoes, and other flies.