Insect repelling plants

[Smallgardener]

A lot of people talk about planting marigolds to keep bugs away. My father in law even claims catnip will keep termites away when planted around the house.
What are some of the plants that bugs don't like? And are there plants that stave off only certain kinds of bugs.

[rainbowgardener]

Yes some plants are insect repellant and yes some plants repel certain kinds of insects and not others.

Catnip is a pretty general insect repellant, including ants. Artemisia/ wormwood is also generally good repellant. Generally the more aromatic and strongly scented, the more repellant. Chives, onions, garlic are good scattered around your garden for their repellant effect.

Borage is often planted with tomatoes as it is supposed to repel tomato hornworms. Dill attracts a lot of beneficial insects, but also repels aphids and mites. Lavender repels fleas and moths. Marigold is specifically known for repelling bad root nematodes, but may also repel white flies.

Partly the strongly scented herbs and plants also make it harder for pest insects to find the crops they like to prey on.

Here's an article with more about this in wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_repellent_plants

[jemsister]

This is a very interesting concept--one I'd like to implement next year. This year's garden was just sorta hashed together last minute, but next year I'd like to have a real plan.