Soon after we moved to the house we now occupy, the smaller, wild animals from the woods out back began making their home under our large front deck. There were mostly wood chucks and rabbits with an occasional raccoon. They made a mess around the deck itself and destroyed parts of the protective lattice facing.
Having learned years ago through my herbal studies that critters do not like mint, I decided to plant the entire front of the deck with various mints. There's spearmint, peppermint, catmint, lemon balm, pennyroyal and also lavender. It only took a couple of weeks for the critters to abandon the area beneath the deck and they've not returned since.
One thing to keep in mind with most mint plants is that they are very invasive. Take care with where you plant them or be prepared to share them once they get going.
I also use sprigs of mint, fresh and dried, throughout the kitchen cupboards and on the sun room's interior window ledges. We had a problem with black ants and Indian seed moths which the mint solved nicely.
Mint has also helped in keeping out mice and other little rodents. I place bunches of the fresh or dried leaves in inconspicuous places around doors and other openings. The crawl space beneath the house also contains a goodly amount of mint.
It doesn't take much effort to keep your home protected. Just replace the indoor mints about every two months and that should take care of it.
If you don't have a local source for mint plants, please check out Lingles Herbs online at http://www.linglesherbs.com They offer a fine selection of organically grown herb plants.
Mint: a simple, natural solution to critters!
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