Plants That Deter Termites

Termites can become a hazard as well as a nuisance once they enter your yard or home. Over time they can create devastating amounts of damage to the structure of your home and any other buildings on your property. While chemical treatments are sometimes effective, it is more environmentally sound to use natural control methods like planting plants that repel termites in your lawn.

You can plant vetiver grass around the perimeter of your yard and home. The tall tufts of grass are ornamental and they can steer termites away from your yard and home. Vetiver grass is a natural solution for termite control, due to a chemical called nootkatone. Nootkatone allows vetiver grass to repel not only termites, but other insects like nematodes, mole crickets, ants, ticks, weevils and cockroaches.

Mint is an herb that will repel most insects, including termites. The EPA recommends mint as a natural pesticide to use in place of the common environmentally harmful chemicals. Mint is also a popular and healthy garnish and cooking herb. It helps aide digestion, relieves stress and has many other uses, including breath freshening. You should plant mint in full sun around your yard to prevent termites from infesting your lawn and home.

The EPA recommends both marigolds and garlic, in addition to mint, for the control of insects such as the termite. These plants are annuals and you must plant them each year but they can benefit your fight against termites and other insects. Marigolds add an aesthetic quality in combination with pest control and you can use garlic as a healthy way to spice up your cooking.

Grow plants that attract the natural predators of termites. Once these plants attract ladybugs, centipedes, spiders and praying mantises, termites are less likely to stick around. If they do stick around they will soon be eaten. Predator-attracting plants include catnip, scented geraniums, flowering herbs, daisies, sunflowers and legumes. Some are annuals and others are perennial. Plant as many perennials as possible to reduce your workload during planting season. They will not necessarily deter the termites themselves but the bugs that the plants attract will help deter new termites and kill off any existing termites.

Make this method of termite control effective by removing plants that deter insects in general. While they will help to get rid of termites they can also repel the beneficial insects. To use both methods, plant predator-attractors in an entirely separate section of your lawn from other insect-repelling plants.