Deter rats from your garden with natural plant that’s easy to grow

Keep rats out of your garden for good by growing this plant.

Rats are intelligent animals, but they’re often seen as a nuisance in our gardens. This is because they are generally considered vermin, as they can spread serious diseases and wreak havoc on your plants.

The common rodents feed on a variety of foods, from spilt bird food and fruit to root vegetables you might be growing, such as carrots and potatoes. These things can attract rats to your garden, and they can then set up home in areas such as sheds, greenhouses, underneath decking, and around compost bins.

Keeping the pests away from your garden might seem like an impossible task, but there is something you can do. According to a gardening expert, there is a natural plant that rats can’t stand the smell of – and it’s easy to grow.

A woman on TikTok who has been trying to keep rats away from the chickens she has on her allotment said she is planting both mint and oregano this year to deter the rodents from her garden.

Mint, in particular, is said to deter rats as they hate the smell of it, so she is planning on planting the herbs next to her chicken run in the hopes of keeping the rodents at bay.

However, as both mint and oregano are invasive plants that grow quickly and can take over garden beds, the woman made sure to plant her herbs in a raised bed to try and reduce the risk of it spreading throughout the rest of her allotment plot.

Not only does mint keep rats at bay, but it can also be used in cooking and in tea.

The woman said: “I absolutely love fresh herbs in food and in tea. I’m fitting them in everywhere this year.”

Mint is believed to deter rats because it has a strong smell that rats’ sensitive noses don’t like. Other essential oils, such as eucalyptus and citronella, have a similar effect.

If you don’t want to grow mint but still want to deter rats with a plant, then you can also try planting onions, garlic, sage, or fennel. But if you don’t want a plant you can eat, flowers like marigolds, lavender, and chrysanthemums can deter rats, too.