Citrus scents: The smell of citrus is unpleasant to squirrels and chipmunks. Plant deterrents: Certain plants like marigolds, alliums, lemon balm, and paperwhites have strong scents that can be offputting to squirrels and chipmunks.
Many animals are repelled by citrus scents; gather up orange, lemon and grapefruit peels and scatter them around your plants. Animals don't like shapes that move in the night – so hang strips of rags, aluminum foil or balloons from branches or a clothesline to chase them away.
Mint is a scent and flavor that deer and some bugs find distasteful. Try applying peppermint oil on hard items, like fences, patios and rocks in your yard. Putting mint tea bags near some plants is another option. Castor oil might keep away animals that burrow through your yard.
Repel pests – Citrus peels repel ants, slugs, aphids, and mosquitos. Spread peels around your garden and plants to keep slugs and ants at bay. Sprinkle zest around your picnic area to keep them off of you and your food. You can also put them in a spray bottle with hot water, shake, then allow to cool.
According to The Ashton Homestead, the orange peels contain a natural insecticide called D-Limonene that will repel everything from slugs, ants and fruit flies to dogs and foxes. The smell of citrus puts them off, giving you pest-free plants for (almost) free.
Interestingly, for cats who have come across this pungent smell before, it is likely that they will have an even stronger reaction to citrus smells than normal. Fortunately, this natural aversion to strong, citrusy smells means that cats tend to avoid eating it.
In general most cats detest citrus and will keep their distance. As an added bonus, it will make your living quarters smell lovely and won't harm anyone (albeit 2 or 4 legs). Place a trash bag on your floor and then place the peels on top and simply slide it right under your skirt.
We're often harsher on improper disposal of non-biodegradable waste like plastics, but decomposable waste also shares a similar effect. Although materials like orange peels won't harm the environment while they break down, the ground is an inappropriate place for them.
Some say the scent is strong enough to scare away insects. Many insects are averse to citrus smells, but drawn to sugar.
Orange Peels
Also, aphids and ants really do not like the scent of oranges, so you can bury the peels shallowly in your garden soil, or shred pieces of it and scatter that across your garden. Additionally, similar to one of the many uses of eggshells, you can use half of an orange peel to plant a seed!
Some of the creams and shampoos, smell appealing to wildlife.) Castor, peppermint, and spearmint oils are odors that digging and burrowing animals dislike. (This can include groundhogs, mice, moles, rats, skunks, voles, and others.)
There are a few different ways you can use mint to keep animals out of gardens. These include planting a mint border around the garden, planting peppermint alongside pest-targeted plants, spraying peppermint essential oil on fencing, rocks, or other hard surfaces, or scattering mint tea bags around the area.
Mice do not like the smell of citrus oils and will avoid areas where they smell them. Citrus oils are frequently used as a natural repellent for mice, but there are other ways to keep mice away from your home. Mice hate citrus oil smells because they contain limonene, which is found in lemons, oranges and grapefruits.
Citrus fruits
They contain varying levels of citric acid and essential oils that can be irritating to your cat's nervous system. Large enough quantities can cause depression of the central nervous system, leading to tremors, seizures, or death.
Keep furry critters out of your garden.
Place orange peels around the perimeter of the garden and the scent should keep dogs and cats from wandering in. You can even try placing orange peels in areas where animals tend to dig as the scent may be enough to discourage them from the act.
It's easy to keep spiders away using natural products. These eight-legged creatures hate the smell of citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges. They also don't like peppermint oils, tea tree oils, eucalyptus, and vinegar. Using any of these around your home will keep spiders away.
Due to their strong sense of smell, cockroaches dislike several pungent herbs and spices, including cinnamon, citrus, thyme basil, citronella, basil, mint, garlic, coffee grounds, peppermint, and bay leaves.
What Smells Keep Spiders Away? Many odorous plants will do a great job of keeping spiders away. Citrus, Eucalyptus, Rosemary, Peppermint, you name it — if it has a strong smell, it likely comes from one of the many plants that spiders hate.
Orange peels: It is estimated that orange peels take around 6 months to decompose, although in drier environments like Central Oregon, oranges can last indefinitely.
Use orange peel spray on your plants
'Spray this every 3-4 days to get rid of pests like slugs, aphids, ants, whiteflies, and fruit flies – and to keep them away,' Kevin says. This option also works equally well indoors, so you can promote the growth of your best indoor trees too.
While most people think of littering as throwing trash and plastics out along the side of the road, officially anything that you leave on the side of the road can be considered litter no matter if it is decomposable or not.
Use chopped up orange peels near your plants
'Spread these pieces or scrapes near the base of the plants. The pungent smell of orange peels can help deter some pests and rodents away from the plants,' Kevin explains.
Citrus: orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit
Citrus smells are widely reported as being repugnant to cats. You can use this to your advantage by throwing orange peels around your garden to keep cats away or spritzing a citrus scent on indoor fabric that you don't want your cat scratching up.
Avoid using citrus, such as orange and lemon peels, if you know that your cat, which many do, finds it to be a highly unpleasant smell. For some, it can irritate or even stress them out.