Confession Time: I had neglected my garden for a week, y’all. I didn’t water it, didn’t go out and give it any love for a week. When I came back to check on the progress, I found a few disappointing (but inevitable) issues. My cucumbers were not doing well. It looked totally dead, and it was covered in ants. My zucchinis were turning yellow and there were a LOT of squash bugs covering the plants. Surprisingly my tomatoes and bell peppers still looked vibrant. So, if you want to plant something hardy that doesn’t need a lot of attention, plant tomatoes and bell peppers. I knew I had to do something to address all these problems. The first thing I did was water the garden to bring some life back to it. Then I started doing some research on a natural alternative to pest control.

So, I did a quick Google search. “Essential oils for gardening pests.” Lots of results popped up. I scanned different searches and came up with a concoction based on what I had in my case. I grabbed an empty 8 ounce spray bottle and started filling it up with various doTERRA essential oils.

I went out and sprayed my garden, I used the whole bottle on my entire garden. I came back the next day pleasantly surprised. The squash bugs were completely gone and the ants in my cucumber bed had decreased. Ants are a pretty constant problem here in South Texas, so this wasn’t too surprising that they weren’t totally gone.

I’ve gone out this week and continued to lightly spray our plants every few days, and I am so pleased to have found a natural solution to my garden pest problem. Bonus: I’ve still seen ladybugs and bees happily flying about, so it still allows for the good bugs in your garden to do their thing. Are you ready for my recipe?

doTERRA Gardening Pest Control Spray

7 drops doTERRA Basil

7 drops doTERRA Eucalyptus

7 drops doTERRA Peppermint

Fill the remainder of your bottle with water.

Feel free to adjust this recipe based on your needs. If you’re seeing a lot of pests, you may want to add a few more drops of essential oil, or spray more often. You can also take additional measures of pest control, like planting marigolds or various herbs around your garden to deter pests.

I’d love to hear from you! How do you naturally provide your garden with pest control?