Ticks are annoying – and dangerous. They can transmit diseases such as Lyme disease or TBE. Keep parasites at bay with these five plants in your garden.
In March, when temperatures consistently exceed 10 degrees again, insects and bloodsuckers become active. This also includes ticks, which not only suck the blood of their host but can also transmit dangerous diseases, writes the Freiburg University Hospital. Large parts of Germany are now tick risk areas.
If you have a garden, there are five plants that ticks detest and can help you keep the pests at bay.
With these five plants you can scare away the ticks in your garden
Dalmatian insect flower: According to the “Bavarian Agricultural Weekly”, the plant contains a natural insecticide and is therefore avoided by ticks. The flower is also hardy and exudes a pleasant scent.
rain fern: The bright yellow plant, also called wormweed, emits a camphor-like scent that deters ticks. The tansy prefers a warm location and serves as an important source of nectar for pollinating insects. When dried, it can also be placed in the wardrobe to combat moths.
Lavender: The purple plant, which is often used to make fragrances, smells pleasantly calming to many people. Ticks can’t stand the essential oils of lavender at all and like to avoid it, the “Frankfurter Rundschau” knows.
Catnip: Because of its special smell, mint is just too attractive for cats, as its name suggests. Ticks, on the other hand, find them downright repulsive. The reason for this is the active ingredient nepetalactone, which is produced in the flowers of the plant. Catnip is also pretty to look at and fits well into the home garden, reports “Kraut&Rüben”.
Rosemary: The herb, which is very popular in Mediterranean cuisine, is considered a spider deterrent. Since ticks are arachnid mites, they also avoid rosemary.
Protect your body from ticks
But even if all of the plants mentioned are present in your own garden, they of course do not offer complete tick protection. For this reason, the body should always be examined after being out among the garden plants for a long time. A vaccination against TBE also provides further good protection.
From [email protected] (Jan Heimhold)