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5 Amazing Plants That Repel Snakes

5 Amazing Plants That Repel Snakes

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While snakes can make for a unique pet, they can certainly be pests outside of that environment. They can have a painful bite, they can disturb your pets, and they can generally be troublesome if they get onto your property.

Because of this, there is a good chance that you will want to make sure that no snakes want to be on your land. There are many ways that you can go about doing this, with some methods being more humane than others.

For instance, while there are certainly snake repellents out there, you might want to try a more humane approach to keeping snakes off of your property. One of the ways that you can do this is by planting plants that have natural snake-repelling properties to them.

Snakes are surprisingly sensitive creatures and they will have no interest in going near plants that have strong smells, allowing you to keep your yard snake-free.

Repelling Snakes with the Use of Plants

Because snakes do not appreciate strong and unpleasant odors, they are not going to want to go near a yard that has a considerable amount of strong-smelling plants.

The only question that remains is what plants are ones that smell bad to a snake? The answer to this question is, unfortunately, somewhat complicated.

To put things simply, snakes do not like odors that are foreign and unpleasant to them. However, this means that if a snake was born into a patch of onions (which typically have a very strong smell), they are going to associate the scent of onion with “home,” making onion grass something that nobody wants to have on their property.

This means that you are going to have to do a fair bit of research to try and figure out which of the plants that can deter snakes is going to be the most useful for you.

This will involve doing some quick checks to see if these plants are common in your area, whether or not they also grow out in the wild around your property.

By putting this time and effort into choosing which plants are going to be best to repel snakes from your yard, you can rest assured knowing that your method will be successful at deterring snakes from crossing into your property.

Chances are that at least one of the several different plants that snakes don’t like will be something that you can plant in your lawn.

Choosing the Right Plants to Get the Job Done

Here, you will want to do a fair bit of research into which plants are common in your area so that you can make sure that the snakes aren’t going to disregard the anti-snake measures you are taking.

You should also keep in mind that the more varieties of plant that you choose, the better a barrier you will be able to create.

For example, a property that only has onion grass is going to do a pretty decent job at repelling snakes. However, if you add lemongrass into the mix, you will be able to do a much better job at warding off snakes that might not be as bothered by the smell of onions.

The more plants that you are willing to take care of, the more snakes that you can keep out of your property at the end of the day.

Keep in mind that there is no single plant out there that will deter all types of snakes. While many people wish that there could be an easy cure-all solution, it is going to take some degree of trial and error to find out which of these plants is going to work on the types of snakes that are infesting your yard.

This is also one of the many, many reasons why people use multiple different kinds of plants when creating an anti-snake barrier, as there’s a better chance of it repelling more types of snakes than just a single-plant barrier would.

1 – Marigold

Marigolds

Marigold is going to be the best snake-deterring plant that you can find. Not only does it add a splash of color onto your lawn, it does a spectacular job at keeping out many different pests.

If you don’t want stray animals wandering onto your property, marigold is also going to do a wonderful job at keeping them out as well.

The reason why marigold is going to be such a good snake repellent is because it has an incredibly strong smell that most animals do not appreciate. Traditionally, it has been used to keep gophers and moles out of farms, as the roots will grow aggressively, and the roots are what give off the strong odor.

While this plant can provide a hiding spot for mice, the natural prey of the snake, the strong odor will keep anything from nesting near the plant for too long.

For a stylish and effective method of keeping snakes and other animals off of your property, marigold is going to be the best plant to turn to.

2 – Mother-in-Law’s Tongue

Snake Plant

Unlike most of the plants here, mother-in-law’s tongue is a bit different. Rather than deterring the snake through its strong sense of smell, these plants will deter the snake visually.

Simply put, snakes do not like the appearance of the mother-in-law’s tongue.

Used in conjunction with other plants, the mother-in-law’s tongue can help create a multi-sensory barrier that will keep even more snakes from getting too interested in your property.

The good news about this plant is that it doesn’t have a particularly high standard of care. All you really need to do is water the plant three times a week, and it will keep on growing until you stop caring for it.

You can even propagate from a single host plant, allowing you to build an effective barrier from just one plant. With that being said, if you plan to use this method, you will want to make sure that you give about three months’ worth of time for the roots to establish a system.

For most warm, outdoor areas, mother-in-law’s tongue is a great way to keep snakes from being interested in your land, and it is a wonderful way to enhance a barrier that you are already working on due to its unique property of being a visual deterrent.

3 – Lemongrass

Lemongrass

Because smells are going to be the most effective way to deter a snake from your property, you are going to want to look into growing lemongrass.

As the name might suggest, lemongrass is a type of grass that produces a strong citrus smell. Snakes detest this citrus-scent, making it another easy and somewhat stylish way to keep snakes off of your lawn.

What makes this plant special is that it will also deter a number of bugs that nobody really wants to deal with, including ticks and mosquitos. Citronella is a byproduct of lemongrass, and it also happens to be one of the most common natural mosquito repellents out there.

If you want to make sure that your yard is free of any insect pests and snakes, then you will absolutely want to consider growing lemongrass.

To make lemongrass even better, it is notably easy to care for as well as drought resistant. For places that are prone to droughts, especially during the summer, this is going to be one of the best plants that you can get to keep snakes, ticks, and mosquitos from disturbing your property.

4 – Onion

Onion Planted In Soil

Onion, as many people know, has a very strong, very distinct smell to it. Chances are that if humans aren’t exactly fond of the smell of onions, then snakes aren’t going to be too fond of it either.

In fact, some people argue that the smell can be so overwhelming to a snake that it becomes disoriented. This means that you are creating another multisensory barrier against the snake by choosing to include onions in the number of plants you use to keep snakes out of your yard.

Onion, while it might not be the most beautiful planted around the perimeter of your yard, can also benefit you in the sense that you can harvest the onion at the end of the year.

Keep in mind that this means you are going to have to replant the onion if you want to keep the benefits of not having snakes on your property, but having a plant that benefits you as well is always something that is good to have.

5 – Garlic

Garlic Stems Growing

Garlic and onion plants function very similarly when it comes to keeping snakes off of your yard. However, many people will argue that garlic plants are going to be the stronger of the two.

If you want to make sure that absolutely no snakes have any interest in crossing into your yard, then you should consider planting garlic around the perimeter of your property. Chances are that it will keep out a number of other animals and pests as well.

What sets garlic apart from the rest is that garlic cloves have an oily residue. If a snake tries to slither over a clove of garlic, it will end up picking up this residue, acting like a pepper spray to the snake.

All snakes that try to enter your property will be promptly dissuaded from doing so, even more than they would be if you planted onions.

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