Plants That Repel Mice

Mice and rats are damaging critters, harming emerging grass seed and leafy green vegetables while contaminating pet food, bird food, and other food sources in the yard. While setting up a mouse trap inside the home is beneficial, placing a snap trap in locations around the yard is not convenient. Fortunately, various plants repel mice, keeping your lawn and home pest-free.

Numerous tell-tale signs indicate your home or yard has a rodent infestation, from mouse droppings and mouse urine to nesting areas in wood piles and mulch. It’s vital to eliminate a mouse problem as soon as you discover one since these pests are destructive and spread diseases.

There are many forms of rodent control, including a live trap or snap trap baited with peanut butter, used kitty litter, ultrasonic repellents, mothballs, and essential oil repellent sprays. However, there are easier ways to prevent mice from finding your yard and home attractive and stop a mouse infestation.

Using Plants to Deter Mice

To keep mice at bay the natural way, growing rodent-repelling plants is the way to go. They provide beauty with their lush greenery, flowers, and scented leaves and repel mice and other garden pests. They are plants that repel rats, chipmunks, squirrels, and other hungry critters. Here are some of the best plants for deterring the house mouse and stopping a mice infestation.

Using scents to deter rats and mice can be especially useful. Since rats can chew through metal, using scents to prevent them from entering your home is effective and will save you costly repairs in the future.

What Are Mouse Repellent Plants?

It’s helpful to understand what it is about the plant that mice hate to determine what plants repel mice. Mice like to munch everything from insects, berries, seeds, and nuts to leafy vegetables. Natural home remedies to get rid of mice are the easiest solution to implement.

However, some plants emit an aroma that rodents cannot stand, causing them to look elsewhere for food sources. Planting these types around your home and veggie patch keeps the pests from infesting the area.

Are There Different Uses for Plants That Deter Mice?

Plants that keep mice away also repel harmful bugs while drawing beneficial insects. Some, like the eucalyptus and peppermint plant, are beneficial for their essential oils. For example, eucalyptus oil is a natural mouse repellent that is great for cockroach control, while peppermint oil repels flies, fleas, ticks, and spiders.

Some plants can even be used to repel birds from your yard. Birds can often be a nuisance as they dig up your lawn to get to worms and other bugs. Create a homemade turkey repellent by following the list of deterrent plants below.

Are Mouse-Repellent Plants Difficult to Grow?

Mouse repellent plants are no more difficult to plant and nurture than any other plant. However, growing the right plants for your area is vital since some are heat-tolerant, and others are cool-season crops. The best way to determine which plants are suitable for your area is to match them to your USDA hardiness zone.

Are There Plants That Attract Mice?

While there are plants that deter mice, other plants attract mice and other rodents to the yard. Corn, strawberry plants, nut trees, root vegetables, and bean seedlings are attractive snacks to the mouse population.

Avoid growing these types or surround them with mice-repelling plants to prevent a mouse infestation. If their favorite plants aren’t available, they feed on leeks, cabbage, zucchini, peas, and other veggies.

Mint (Mentha)

Mice do not like the smell of mint, and incorporating mint plants into your vegetable or flower bed keeps these rodents away.

Several types of mint, including spearmint, peppermint, and chocolate mint, are easy-growing herbs with many purposes. Place the leaves in an airtight container and use them for adding to tea or dessert.

These hardy perennial herbs grow in zones 3 through 11 and thrive in full sun or partial shade. Plant them in acidic or neutral soil and watch as they grow 12 to 18 inches tall, with a 24-inch spread.

Lavender (Lavandula) – Flowering Plants That Repel Mice

Lavender is one of our favorite herbal flowers. They look beautiful with their spikes of blooms and are aromatic, filling an area with a calming scent that repels mice, deer, and other pests.

This well-known perennial plant grows in a compact shrub form with gray-green foliage in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 9. It grows at a moderate pace, with flowers reaching 2 to 3 feet tall and leaves spreading 2 to 4 feet.

Daffodils (Narcissus)

Daffodils are another flowering plant useful for pest control, and there are many types for your flowerbed. These spring-flowering bulbs produce flowers ranging from yellow, white, and orange to pink and red, and they are ideal for the novice gardener.

This perennial grows ideally in hardiness zones 4 through 8 in neutral or acidic soil. It tolerates part shade or full sun and grows 6 to 30 inches tall and 6 to 12 inches wide, depending on the type.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) – Cat-Loving Plants That Deter Mice

Ironically, catnip is a plant felines love while mice hate, making it an excellent option for the yard. This mint family member is simple to grow, and it has an attractive clump-forming growth habit. It is a fast grower, reaching its mature size in one season.

Catnip is a perennial herb hardy in zones 3 through 7. It prefers growing in full sun and tolerates all soil types. This plant grows up to 2 to 3 feet tall and wide, spreading quickly if not kept in check.

Wood Hyacinth (Hyacinthoides hispanica)

Wood hyacinth or Spanish bluebell is a top choice for many gardeners since it has an extended display of blue, purple, pink, and white flowers while repelling mice and rats from the lawn.

Spanish bluebell plants produce dainty blossoms that hang from the plant like bells. It grows 6 to 18 inches wide and tall and is hardy in zones 3 through 8. Plant the bulbs in a partial shade or full sun area in the fall and enjoy springtime blooms the following year.

Amaryllis (Amaryllis) – Exotic Blooms to Repel Mice

Amaryllis is a perennial bulb that produces exotic-looking red, pink, and white flowers with colored spots and bands. Along with its natural beauty, this plant repels mice and looks great as a border plant around the garden.

This flowering plant grows 1 to 2 feet tall, with a 9 to 12-inch spread, and it blooms from March through May with a possible fall rebloom in hardiness zones 8 through 10. Amaryllis grows well in full sun or partial shade and prefers slightly acidic soil.

Onions (Allium cepa)

There is a wide variety of onions, from yellow and white to red, and they’re all great additions to the veggie patch. While we enjoy the flavor and aroma of fresh onions, mice cannot stand the pungent odor and head to other areas to nest.

Onion plants are relatively easy to grow, as long as you plant them in full sun, in loamy, well-drained soil. They grow well in a bed or containers and are ready to harvest in late summer or early fall. Note that they are toxic to animals, and caution is required.

Tomatoes (Solanum Lycopersicum) – Edible Mouse Repellent Plants

Tomatoes are an excellent option to grow an edible garden without attracting mice. Tomato plants grow from seeds or small nursery plants, there are large and small varieties to plant, and they are ideal for growing in the ground or a patio pot.

Tomatoes need a decent amount of full sun throughout the day to flourish and a stake or tomato cage for support. Give your plants enough water and fertilizer, and they reward you with an abundance of tasty fruits at the end of the season.

Marigolds (Tagetes)

Marigolds are the top choice among flower-growers for keeping various pests away, from mice and deer to mosquitoes and flies. In addition, they produce stunningly colorful flowers in shades of yellow, orange, red, white, gold, and bicolor.

These annual herbaceous plants flourish in all zones in slightly acidic to neutral soil. They are sun-lovers and grow 4 to 48 inches tall and 6 to 24 inches wide, depending on the type.

Garlic (Allium sativum) – Flavorful Plant That Deters Mice

If you enjoy flavorful food while keeping a pesky rodent out of the yard, you’re in for a treat. Mice cannot tolerate the fragrance of garlic and avoid areas where they grow, making them ideal for planting around a veggie patch.

Garlic plants thrive in slightly acidic to neutral moist and well-draining soil, and grow well in pots or beds. Plant in the autumn before the first frost in a full sun area and harvest aromatic garlic bulbs and cloves at the end of the growing season.

Black Pepper (Piper nigrum)

The black pepper plant contains piperine, which gives it intense flavor and odor; mice detest the aroma. Planting peppercorn plants around the vicinity of your house and yard or anywhere you see mice droppings is the perfect mouse repellent.

Peppercorn plants are tropical perennial vines that flourish in hardiness zone 12, but you can grow them in cooler regions and bring them indoors when the temperatures drop. Get rid of mice naturally by growing these plants in rich, loamy soil and full sun around your house.

Rosemary (Salvia Rosmarinus) – Fragrant Herb That Mice Hate

Rosemary is an herb that emits a strong fragrance that mice and other pests detest, causing them to seek better places to spend their time. It keeps rodents out of the area, and the leaves are also delicious for adding to soups, stews, and chicken recipes.

Rosemary plants are perennial, growing 2 to 6 feet tall and 2 to 4 feet wide. They grow well in acidic or neutral soil, as long as it is well-draining, and prefer full sun to shade. These chipmunk repellent plants are hardy in zones 8 through 10 and mature in the second growing season.

Sage (Salvia officinalis)

All sage types have a strong smell that mice cannot tolerate, and they are unique-looking plants. They have gray-green, wooly leaves four inches long with a peppery, earthy scent and spikes of purple-blue flowers during the summer.

Sage is a perennial herb that grows 2 to 5 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide, depending on the variety. It grows well in neutral or acidic soil, loves sunny locations, and is hardy in zones 4 through 10.

Sweet Pea (Lathyrus odoratus) – Vining Plant That Prevents Mice

Sweet peas are a fun plant to grow, with their delicate-looking flowers in shades of red, pink, white, lavender, and blue. They have a vining growth habit that works well as a natural wall to keep mice and other pests out of the flower bed, growing 6 to 8 feet tall.

This legume grows as an annual or perennial vine, depending on the type, and it thrives in hardiness zones 3 through 8. It blooms from summer through fall, tolerates full sun or partial shade, and prefers alkaline, rich, well-draining soil. Deter mice from your house by planting these pretty flowers near the front door.

Elderberry (Sambucus)

Elderberry trees have a shrub-like appearance, with a moderate growth rate of 6 to 12 feet the first few years. They bear waxy white flowers in the spring and fruit in the fall and are helpful as a natural mice repellent. However, raw elderberries are toxic to humans and pets.

Elderberries grow ideally in areas with plenty of sunshine throughout the day and prefer neutral to acidic soil. They are a woody perennial, hardy in zones 3 through 9, and have a mature size of 20 to 30 feet tall.

The house mouse is a nuisance; it is not long before one becomes many. Fortunately, plants have a way of keeping these pests in check. While we enjoy the fragrance of herbs and flowers, mice cannot stand the smell and seek better places for feeding and nesting.

Growing plants that repel mice keeps your yard pest-free while adding a touch of nature to the space, so why not share our mice repelling plant guide with the gardeners in your life on Pinterest and Facebook?