I must admit the mosquitoes in and around Crest Avenue, in fact in all of the Greater Metropolitan area, are a problem every year. Some communities alert their residents when they will be spraying to try and gain control of these pesky little bloodsuckers. That is not done where we are, but we do receive updates in our summer newsletters reminding us how to keep the mosquitoes away. This year we are all a little more aware of the mosquito population because of the news reports. It really makes no difference to me whether they carry disease or not. Just being bitten is annoying. So, I took measures to prevent having to deal with that. Read on.
On a recent stop to Lowe's, I found these Citronella Mosquito Plants in the garden center. While the scent is a repellent to mosquitoes, I must tell you that it is pure heaven to humans. These lemon-scented geraniums are wonderful. I thought these would be great on and around the deck to keep away the mosquitoes while enjoying the natural lemon scent.
At Lowe's on this day, they were selling for $12 for three plants. I thought that was a pretty good deal. These get quite large, so $4 per plant seemed a good deal to me. I love the shape of the foliage.
I found these 6" clay pots in the shed which I thought would work well to get them started. I removed them from the plastic pots they came and transplanted them right away. You want to get your plants out of those pots as soon as possible after you get home. These set for one day before I transferred them to the clay pots and they were getting baked in the plastic.
I removed part of the root ball from the bottom of each and then transplanted them directly into these clay pots. For the time, they look just fine in these small pots. As the season continues, they will outgrow these and will be transferred to large clay pots, around 15" in diameter.
Once transplanted, it was time for a thorough watering. I chose a setting on the nozzle that would saturate the soil completely but not damage the plants.
Here they are, well watered and becoming acclimated to their new home. They will stay here for probably somewhere around 3-4 weeks and then we will transfer them to larger pots. Do you see the tall, stainless steel pots in the background beside the deck? Eventually the citronella plants will be in large clay pots which sit inside those stainless steel vessels.
This is our first year trying the citronella plant. I will let you know how they work at repelling mosquitoes. I hope to have a good report.
On a recent stop to Lowe's, I found these Citronella Mosquito Plants in the garden center. While the scent is a repellent to mosquitoes, I must tell you that it is pure heaven to humans. These lemon-scented geraniums are wonderful. I thought these would be great on and around the deck to keep away the mosquitoes while enjoying the natural lemon scent.
At Lowe's on this day, they were selling for $12 for three plants. I thought that was a pretty good deal. These get quite large, so $4 per plant seemed a good deal to me. I love the shape of the foliage.
I found these 6" clay pots in the shed which I thought would work well to get them started. I removed them from the plastic pots they came and transplanted them right away. You want to get your plants out of those pots as soon as possible after you get home. These set for one day before I transferred them to the clay pots and they were getting baked in the plastic.
I removed part of the root ball from the bottom of each and then transplanted them directly into these clay pots. For the time, they look just fine in these small pots. As the season continues, they will outgrow these and will be transferred to large clay pots, around 15" in diameter.
Once transplanted, it was time for a thorough watering. I chose a setting on the nozzle that would saturate the soil completely but not damage the plants.
Here they are, well watered and becoming acclimated to their new home. They will stay here for probably somewhere around 3-4 weeks and then we will transfer them to larger pots. Do you see the tall, stainless steel pots in the background beside the deck? Eventually the citronella plants will be in large clay pots which sit inside those stainless steel vessels.
This is our first year trying the citronella plant. I will let you know how they work at repelling mosquitoes. I hope to have a good report.
