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Using Essential Oils in
the Garden
A natural way to manage pests.
Gardening with Essential Oils
What Are Essential Oils?
They are volatile and aromatic substances created by plants. Essential oils are obtained by steam distillation, expression, or through solvent extraction of plant
material. There are thousands of different constituents that make up essential oils and not all of them have been identified by science. You can find them in
processed food, perfumes, health products, cleaning products, air fresheners, candles, cosmetics, chewing gum, candy, soft drinks, liqueurs, toothpaste, mouthwash,
and many other sources.
Essential oils can be a very important part of natural gardening. We live in a world where we are bombarded by chemicals that many times are not safe to use.
Essential oils can easily help replace some pesticides and poisons in your garden. They will help you eliminate problem insects and diseases without harming the
plant or the environment. At Gritman we have a philosophy that wants to cooperate with nature and does not want do battle with it. We would prefer to learn from the
red ants and work with them instead of killing them. At the same time, we understand that this is not always possible so we have put together some products that will
help your stay in the garden be rewarding and free from bites.
Essential oils could help:
Protect plants from insects, mildew and other plant diseases
Protect the gardener from insects, heal bites and relieve itching, and treat sunburn.
Protect your animals from mosquitoes, fleas and ticks.
Protect your home from fleas.
Essential Oils for the garden
Chamomile
Lavender
Oregano
Tea Tree
Cedarwood
Lemon Eucalyptus
Pennyroyal
Eucalyptus
Onion
Peppermint*
Garlic
Orange
Thyme
Common Garden Pests
Ants
Aphids
Asparagus Beetle
Cabbageworm
Caterpillars
Corn Earworm
Cucumber Beetle
Cutworm
Grasshopper
Japanese Beetle
Mexican Bean Beetle
Slug
Snail
Squash Bug
Squash Vine Borer
Tomato Hornworm
Weevil
Whitefly
Beneficial Insects
Assassin Bugs
Braconid Wasp
Ground Beetle
Honey Bee
Hover Fly
Lacewing
Lady Beetle
Mason Bee
Praying Mantis
Soldier Beetle
Spider
Tachinid Fly
Trichogramma Wasp
Yellow Jacket
Gardening with Nature
Bugs are a necessary part of every garden ecosystem. Learning to spot the "pests"
among the “beneficials," will help you cultivate your best garden ever.
Every garden is its own micro-ecosystem. Healthy plants defend
themselves best against pests. Have your soil tested, compost, and plan
where to plant what for maximum benefit.
Planting such things as garlic & marigolds in gardens can help deter
pests. Interplanting herbs such as Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender, Basil, Sage, and
Mints around your garden can deter pests and improve growth.
Encouraging birds in the area and keeping chickens and ducks can
reduce the need to handpick pests from your plants.
Use row cover to protect the cabbage and squash families. Uncover after
flowering to allow access for pollinators.
Leopard Slugs are a gardener’s friend. They don’t damage healthy,
living plants. They do eat other slugs, including species that can
damage garden plants and vegetables. By eating dead and rotting
plants, as well as fungi, Leopard Slugs recycle nutrients and
fertilize the soil. Try to encourage this helpful slug by creating a
log pile – damp, rotting wood provides ideal conditions for it to live
and breed.
Use small cans, or toilet paper rolls as “collars” for your plants to
prevent cutworm damage. Check your garden at night to handpick
these nocturnal feeders.
Hang flat, sticky traps near cucumber and eggplant to hinder their
respective beetle pests.
Vinegar is a natural herbicide.
Essential Remedies
As with most natural/organic remedies - Consistent use produces the best results.
Rosemary oil is a potent repellent for many types of pesky insects including flies, fleas and mosquitoes. Rosemary is also great for deterring insect larvae like the cabbage looper caterpillar whose voracious
appetite for juicy vegetable foliage can easily destroy entire crops of tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, and
even some root veggies if left undisturbed. To create a broad-spectrum all-natural insect repellent, mix equal parts of rosemary,
peppermint, thyme, and clove oils (about 10 drops of each) in a spray bottle filled with
water. Remember to shake well before each use. Apply anywhere you want to get rid
of skittering, creeping, crawling, or flying pests.
The cause of around 85% of all plant diseases, garden fungus can quickly become a big problem if left
untreated. Parasitic fungi cause damage by poisoning or killing cells, blocking stomata (breathing
pores), and stealing nutrients from the plant. If you’re seeing signs of disease in your garden, chances
are pretty good that there is a fungus to blame.
Melaleuca Oil is one of the few natural remedies with the power to not just prevent
fungal growth, but also to kill many species of fungus. To treat existing fungal
growth or as a preventative, mix about one tablespoon of melaleuca oil per cup of
water in a spray bottle. Apply directly to infected plants once or twice per week. Remember to avoid spraying leaves when the weather is very hot and dry as sunheated melaleuca oil can easily burn leaves.
Cedar Wood, Hyssop, and Pine are the best essential oils for keeping gastropods off of your plants. Mix
about a teaspoon of your chosen oil(s) in a spray bottle filled with water. Apply diluted oil in a ring
around plants where slugs and snails like to visit. Refresh as needed.
Mice and other rodents are repulsed by the clean, fresh scent of peppermint. Douse
cotton balls with 1 – 2 drops of Peppermint oil a piece then tuck them into the
entrances of mouse holes, squirrel nests, and other rodent burrows to persuade
rodent residents to relocate. Replace as needed.
Ant Away Spray
1/2 cup purified water
1 teaspoon unscented Castile soap
15 drops peppermint essential oil
15 drops melaleuca essential oil
7 drops citrus essential oil (orange, lemon, grapefruit, etc) OR 1-3 drops clove essential oil
Instructions:
Pour all of the ingredients into a glass spray bottle.
How To Use Essential Oil Spray:
Shake bottle before each use, then spray around baseboards, entry points for ants and just about
anywhere you’ve seen ants. Repeat every few days until ants are completely gone. The soap will help the
solution stay where you spray.
For more specific insect problems, try mixing 8 ounces of water in a spray bottle with 1/2
teaspoon natural soap and 12 drops of essential oil from the guide below, remembering to
shake the bottle frequently to keep the oil mixed with the water.
Ants: Peppermint
Aphids: Peppermint, Sandalwood,
White Fir
Beetles: Peppermint, Thyme
Caterpillars: Peppermint
Cutworm: Thyme
Fleas: Lavender, Lemongrass,
Peppermint
Flies: Basil, Clove, Eucalyptus,
Lavender, Peppermint, Rosemary
Mosquitoes: Lavender, Lemongrass
Moths: Lavender, Peppermint Plant
Roaches: Eucalyptus
Slugs: White Fir
Snails: Patchouli, White Fir
Spiders: Peppermint
Ticks: Lavender, Lemongrass, Thyme
Weevils: Patchouli, Sandalwood
Companion Essential Oils in the Garden
You can also use essential oils to attract natural pollinators to your garden. The scent of
any orange is an irresistible attractant for bees, as are the essential oils of Lavender,
Hyssop, Marjoram, Helichrysum, Basil, Sage, and Rosemary. Lavender, Yarrow, Mint,
Fennel, Helichrysum, and Sage oils attract more butterflies to your garden.
Vegetables
• Asparagus: Basil, Parsley
• Beans: Lavender, Basil
• Beetroot: Celery, Marjoram
• Broccoli: Basil, Thyme
• Cabbage: Peppermint, Sage, Thyme, Clary-Sage, Chamomile
• Carrots: Sage
• Cauliflower: Thyme
• Celery: Geranium, Yarrow
• Cucumber: Sage, Yarrow
• Leeks: Hyssop
• Lettuce: Carrot
• Onion: Chamomile
• Peas: Geranium, Carrot
• Potatoes: Basil, Sage
• Radishes: Parsley
• Tomatoes: Basil
Fruit
• Apples: Lavender
• Grapes: Hyssop, Lavender
Flowers
• Roses: Basil, Hyssop
Application Methods
Sprays: Use 20 drops of essential oil to 1 gallon of water for spraying
on flowers fruit and vegetables. Sprays are best used as insect
deterrents, to rid plants of mold and mildew and to encourage
growth.
Hanging Strips of Cloth: Place 4-6 drops of undiluted essential oil on
a cloth strip and attach to a pole or hang from a branch. Use multiple
strips of cloth to cover desired area.
Cotton Wool: Bury small cartons, such as yogurt containers, in the
ground keeping the top level with the soil. Add 4-6 drops of essential
oils with strong odors such as Peppermint, Thyme or Eucalyptus and
refresh as needed. The strong scent of these essential oils will help
deter all ground moving insects i.e. slugs, snails, mice; as well as cats
and dogs (dogs especially dislike Black Pepper Oil).
String: Soak a string in a solution of water and essential oils then
string between plant rows to deter flying insects.
Jojoba oil is a natural insect repellent that can be an addition to
any treatment.
Precautions
The following precautions are recommended whenever using an oil on a woody plant:
Do not apply when temperatures are excessively high (above 100 degrees F). High temperature limitations are primarily related to the droughtstress status of the plant. Plants under stress may be damaged. Those not stressed are much less likely to be damaged by an oil application. Dry
conditions without plant stress generally reduce risk of injury by oil, because evaporations is more rapid.
Do not apply oils if plant tissues are wet or rain is likely. These conditions inhibit oil evaporation. High humidity (above 90%) also may contribute
to injury risk, while low humidity generally reduces it.
Do not spray when shoots are growing.
Avoid treating plants during the fall until after winter hardening has occurred. Fall treatments have sometimes caused susceptibility to winter
injury.
Do not apply essential oils in combination with sulfur or sulfur-containing pesticides. They can react with the oils to form phytotoxic compounds.
Elemental sulfur can persist for long periods. Do not apply oils for minimum of 30 days after any sulfur treatment.
Avoid using oils on plants that tend to be oil sensitive:
Black walnut
Cryptomeria
Douglas-fir
Hickories
Junipers and cedars
Maples (particularly Japanese and red maple)
Redbud
Smoke tree
Spruce (particularly dwarf Alberta spruce)
Melaleuca can be toxic for cats. Their liver does not filter phenols as effectively as humans and dogs are able.
Additional Solutions
Diatomaceous earth (DE). A powder made from fossilized remains of aquatic organisms
called “diatoms,” DE has sharp edges that cut into insects’ bodies and cause them to die of
dehydration. DE is less effective when wet, yet can still be used in the garden to make life
difficult for flea beetles and newly emerged cutworms and Japanese beetles. In dry
weather, DE spread beneath plants will repel slugs. Lightly sprinkle dry DE on the soil’s
surface where Japanese beetles, slugs, or other pests will come into direct contact with the
dry particles. Renew after rain or dew.
Neem (Azadirachta indica), When applied to insects and the plants they eat, neem oil,
which is derived from an Asian tree, causes many insects to feed less, grow more slowly,
molt less and stop laying eggs. Neem works best on young insects, particularly those that
grow rapidly, such as Colorado potato beetles, Mexican bean beetles and squash bugs. Neem
can also control aphids and leaf-eating caterpillars. Please note: Neem is toxic when taken
internally.
Helpful Sources
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/organicpest-control-series-zl0z1305zkin.aspx
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/index.html
https://extension.umd.edu
http://www.dirtdoctor.com
http://www.gardenmyths.com
http://essentialoil.university
http://healthyoilsummit.com
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed