Gardening With Essential Oils
This time of the year in Arkansas we have beautiful sunny days that are inspiring to many gardeners to revamp their greenhouse. I am new in this field of gardening but as my crops begin to grow, I faced pests and failed harvest which brought me to the point to search for more non-toxic method to rescue my little plants. One day I was browsing in Facebook and I came across a post from my Young Living group about how to use essential oils in gardening, I was so happy, excited and a little disappointed in myself “why I never think of tis before!!”. So, here is what I gather for any garden to thrive with essential oils in rescue!!
Keep in mind That Essential Oils are very strong! Use with consideration. To treat the plants, you can spray Essential Oils directly on the spot and area of the daily until problem is gone! Good news for pets most essential oils are gentle enough that they won’t kill them. Basically, we encourage them to move on and go elsewhere.
Old pal vinegar is so helpful and handy in your garden as well as in the kitchen and killing bugs. I never knew vinegar is a natural herbicide. Now that I know, I use it to kill weeds by pouring full-strength distilled vinegar on them. Great food for acid loving plants such as all evergreens plants are acid loving, and trees like: Dogwood, Beech, Pin oak, Willow oaks, and Magnolia, add occasional a cup of vinegar to a gallon of water. Maintain cut flowers and liven droopy ones by adding 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar to a quart of water in a bottle. Wash your garden vegetables or grocery ones with a mixture of 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar in 1 1/2 quarts of water.
Ants: Peppermint (Add drops to the window or door seals)
Aphids: Peppermint, Sandalwood
Beetles: Peppermint, Thyme
Chiggers: Lavender, Lemongrass, Thyme (nasty one in AR)
Flies: Basil, Clove, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Peppermint, Rosemary
Mosquitoes: Lavender, Lemongrass
Gnats: Patchouli
Moths: Lavender, Peppermint
Cutworm: Thyme
Plant Lice: Peppermint
Snails: Patchouli, White Fir
Spiders: Peppermint
Ticks: Lavender, Lemongrass, Thyme (Must GOOO!!)
in case above mixtures are confusing let’s try a simple one: Prefill your spray bottle with a drop of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary essential oils then add 15 drops from each in a spray bottle with Peppermint, Thyme, Clove, Rosemary, and Thieves. Now top the rest with water and gave it a good
shake before using to mix the oils and water together. Great! Spray as desired.