Last Updated on April 18, 2024 by Kimberly Crawford
Flies are annoying. They’re seemingly everywhere that’s stinky, like when you’re cleaning out the litter of your dogs or cats.
They’re also around garbage bins filled with used diapers or rotting leftovers. However, it’s better to plant and take care of plants that repel flies around your garden or flower bed. Powerful insecticides do more harm than good after all, such as killing the bees that many an ecosystem depends on.
Related: 9 Flies That Look Like Bees But Aren’t (With Pictures)
The 10 Plants That Naturally Repel Flies
1. Sweet Basil
Flies are deterred from going near your home because of the scent basil emits whether it’s dried or fresh. Plant it on patio pots because it thrives in such an environment.
You can also add some to your flower bed arrangements near the entry of your home. It ensures you of a no-fly zone (literally).
They can also be utilized to repel a variety of problem insects in your garden. Just plant them at your vegetable patch to keep your tomatoes and squashes safe.
Additionally, it keeps away all sorts of pests from your roses in a safe manner, such as caterpillars. It certainly helps that it adds flavor to culinary dishes and beverages.
2. Bay Laurel
As for bay laurel, it has been used for centuries as a culinary additive for a variety of dishes. Its glossy leaves have ended up placed in cupboards everywhere as regular aromatic ingredients for various entrees. It also helps that it also keeps mice, weevils, and insects away.
Bay laurel is a good repellent due to its pungent scent that emanates whether you have fresh or dried leaves. Furthermore, it can be bundled and hung near your home entryways when fly season comes. It effectively staves off any swarm of flies flying all over your home.
3. Lavender
Lavender isn’t so much pungent but sweet smelling, serving as a popular scent in perfume. This is why many gardeners love having their own lavender plant in their gardens. This is a fly-repelling plant that thrives in sunny, hot, and well-drained environments, so Arizona residents take note.
Both the blooms and foliage of lavender emit a fragrance that ironically wards off a variety of insects, flies included. Strange how strong scents like cat poop can get the flies gathering but something so sweet smelling drives them away. It’s as though they have an allergy to this wonderful, perfume scent.
Related: 15 Best Plants That Repel Roaches
4. Tansy
Tansy might seem like an unfamiliar entry to many who regularly read all-natural insect repellent articles. Even avid gardeners might’ve never heard of this plant. Regardless, when you get your hands on this plant, keep in mind that it’s best used by extracting its oils. Use them to create a tansy spray solution.
This all-natural insect-repelling spray is much safer than DDT or even a Baygon spray for sure. Spray it on your door frame or window frame for good measure. When you open your doors or windows, the flies will definitely hesitate to come in to ruin your lunch. It serves as a fly barrier for sure.
Related: 20+ Plants That Repel Snakes
5. Rosemary
Flies will also fly away when rosemary is around. Rosemary is a plant that will stay evergreen in many growing zones. This is as long as you protect and take care of it properly. It can also grow 5-feet wide and 3-to-4-feet high. Therefore, make sure to give it enough room as its growing space.
Rosemary has a heady scent that makes it a popular aromatherapy ingredient. It’s also a popular flavor of herb for use in a variety of drinks and dishes galore. Flies won’t go near your garden if you have this plant growing there. It’s due to its scent that comes off strongest from its leaves.
Related: Natural Tick Repellent: 8 Plants That Repel Ticks
6. Mint
Strange how the most popular flavor of toothpaste or candy can be quite the turn-off to the average fly. But it is. Mint repels the insect away with that familiar minty freshness. By the way, the mint family includes citrus mints, sweet mints, spearmints, and peppermints.
The menthol/mentha ingredient from mint doesn’t only give you a cooling sensation when applied to your skin or mouth. It also has a potent effect on mint-sensitive insects, which includes the dreaded fly. All mints emit the aroma whether they’re dried out or picked off fresh.
Related: Natural Flea Repellents: 17 Plants That Repel Fleas
7. Pennyroyal
This plant is potent. Use with caution. Repel biting insects like mosquitoes and germ-carrying ones like flies as well as pests like mice with this decorative plant. You can effectively rub fresh cuttings to release aromatic oils unto hats and clothing as well, if you wish.
However, avoid ingesting the plant oils or the plant itself. Ingest only under doctor supervision for certain conditions. Otherwise, just don’t eat it. Regardless, if you want a potent natural insecticide in your garden that’s also a plant, pennyroyal is good as gold. It can get those hungry caterpillars away from your prized tomatoes in a snap.
Related: 11 Plants That Repel Mosquitoes: Keep Those Pesky Biters Away!
8. Wormwood
Wormwood is a beneficial garden plant that’s easy to grow with leaves that contain a resinous particle. This resin can also kill insects in an ecological or organic fashion versus more harmful manmade insect killers. Pick it fresh and rub it on your clothing and arms to keep the flies away.
You can also bundle up wormwood for placement in closets, doorways, and so forth. Famously, wormwood is also known as absinthe.
This substance has been around for 3,000 years as a type of medicine as well. It’s also a trendy beverage flavoring, especially in the 19th Century. However, it has since been banned in many countries due to its toxic effects when ingested in large amounts.
Related: 17 Best Plants That Repel Wasps And Bees
9. Citronella
Citronella grass is a popular ornamental plant. It can be found in many frost-free zones and landscapes in the U.S.A. It’s intolerant to colder climates.
It can even thrive within a patio planter with proper care. If the weather becomes cold, bring the plant indoors to keep it alive.
Its antibacterial, antifungal oils are effective at warding off all sorts of insects such as mosquitoes, ticks, and flies. These oils are found in citronella’s fronds and have a strong, relieving fragrance. It also emits the smell when brushed against. This scent borders on being insecticidal.
10. Sweet Woodruff
The carpet-like plant that’s hardy-growing is an effective fly stopper and remover. It can grow from 10 to 12 inches in height and has umbrella leaves and white delicate flowers. Woodruff can provide shade to your garden as well as keep it smelling fresh and sweet.
The natural fly repellent doesn’t require leaf-cutting or leaf-drying at all. Just grow the plant and it will do the rest. It’s like a reverse meat flower or rafflesia in the way it repels flies. Sweet woodruff is popular in areas of bulb plantings. It can add a breath of fresh air to your patio by putting them in patio pots.
In a Nutshell
No one likes flies in their homes or gardens. Because flies are ubiquitously bothersome, you might need to use a combination of these plants. They’ll effectively repel these germ-ridden, small-winged creatures. The different repellents and natural insecticides should keep your home smelling fresh from the inside out to boot.
Furthermore, other pests will be killed or driven out of your gardens. This will keep your potatoes, tomatoes, gingers, and more from getting munched on. Get rid of these invaders naturally so you won’t end up killing good insects or disrupting the ecosystem.
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