Wasps and other stingers are an unavoidable summertime occurrence, particularly if your yard is a particularly inviting location for them. Due to the presence of a food source, some plants are more likely than others to draw wasps (like fruits, flowers, or other insects).
Wasps are actually quite helpful insects, both as pollinators and as predators of other bugs, despite the fact that this may not sound like good news. The easiest strategy to control wasp populations so you can benefit from having them around without running the risk of stings is to learn which plants are most likely to attract them.
Trees that attract wasps
Fruit trees almost often draw wasps, particularly paper wasps and yellow jackets. This is due to the fact that wasps enjoy sweet foods and will gather around trees that have ripe fruits so they can feed on juice.
Fig trees have a unique interaction with wasps despite the fact that practically all fruit trees can draw the insects. The 900 different species of fig wasps that pollinate each of the 900 different kinds of fig trees in the world have developed alongside fig trees.
Both fig trees and fig wasps have coexisted for so long that they are dependent on one another to thrive. The fig, which is actually an inflorescence—a collection of several flowers and seeds enclosed in a fleshy, bulb-like stem—is where the female fig wasp deposits her eggs.
The wasp pollinates the numerous tiny flowers inside while using the fig as a nursery for her unhatched young. The female fig wasp expires inside the inflorescence after finishing her task. The eggs hatch into larvae during the following few weeks, grow into adult fig wasps, and then emerge from the fig to start the cycle all over again.
You could stop eating figs altogether if you consider that you could swallow dozens of small wasps with each bite.
Flowers that attract wasps
Wasps and other stinging insects are attracted to flowering plants in particular. This is due to the fact that wasps are frequently seen buzzing around blooms and, like bees, feed on the sweet, energizing nectar provided by flowers. This is advantageous because wasps are pollinators and can enhance the general health of your vegetation.
Other plants that attract wasps
The fact that wasps eat other, less desirable bug species is just another advantage of having them around. Wasps will therefore be drawn to plants that are overrun by garden pests (including aphids, flies, and caterpillars). The wasps will feed on the other insects, protecting your plants from harm and reducing the number of pests in your yard.
Additionally, wasps gather honeydew, a sweet and gooey substance generated by aphids and other insects. Wasps can assist in lessening the damage by eliminating honeydew, which can cover extensive regions of infected plants if left unchecked and promote the development of black, sooty mold.
Should you try to get rid of wasps in your yard?
Wasps are incredibly helpful insects to have around even though they may not be everyone’s favorite insects. Many people are frightened off by wasps because of their propensity to sting, but in reality, most wasp species won’t attack humans unless their nest is under danger.
Wasps, on the other hand, spend the majority of their time pollinating flowers and controlling pest populations. Your garden and plants can thrive if there are a sufficient number of wasps in your backyard!
However, there are a few things you may do to deter wasps in your backyard if you still wish to lessen their population.
Pick up fruit as soon as it falls
In your garden, if you have a fruit tree, you’ve definitely seen that it serves as a gathering place for a variety of insects, including wasps. The easiest strategy to deter wasps is to keep an eye on your crop because they are attracted to the fruit. Pick fruit as soon as it ripens, and constantly pick up fallen fruit to prevent insects from gathering there.
Plant certain types of flowers
Wasps adore flowers, but some varieties may draw them in more than others. Wasps are thought to be attracted to blue, purple, white, and yellow flowers more than warmer, reddish-orange ones. Wasps, like bees, are active during the day, so they won’t be drawn to plants with evening flowers, such as jasmine and evening primrose.
Lilacs seem to draw hornets.
Hornets will visit fruit trees that are in bloom in order to collect the sap, bark, and insects that feed on the sap. Hornets appreciate fruit trees for their blossoms as well as the eventual fruit harvest and abundance of fallen fruit that may be found strewn on the ground below. There are miniature types of apples, pears, and peaches that are suited for city landscapes, as well as regular sizes for settings in rural orchards. If you have fruit trees, wear shoes, exercise caution, and try not to disturb any hornets or bees you see foraging as you collect the fruit from the area.
- Even though hornets have the potential to sting, many people are afraid of them despite the fact that they play an essential role in the ecosystem.
- If you have fruit trees, wear shoes, exercise caution, and try not to disturb any hornets or bees you see foraging as you collect the fruit from the area.
Because of the flowers, sap, and insect prey that visit flowering bushes, shrubs, and ornamental trees, hordes are also drawn to them. Lilacs, wild plum, hydrangeas, and willow are a few examples.
What attracts wasps the most?
If wasps are a problem in your yard, you may be wondering why they chose to bother you.
The truth is this:
While wasps occasionally migrate through almost every yard, the following things draw them in and encourage them to stay:
Shelter
Male wasps die in the fall after fertilizing the queen of the colony. The queen wasps then seek refuge in locations that are secure, warm, and guarded, where they can survive the winter.
Wasps can be loitering in your yard because they’ve discovered a secure haven there. Wasps find refuge from prospective predators and the harsh surroundings in places like insulated walls, fissures, and crevices.
Food sources
The queen and her workers awaken in time for the summer after spending the entire winter hibernating. Additionally, they are hungry after a long winter and are hunting for food sources. They’ll remain if they can locate food in your garden or yard.
Digger wasps are a type of wasp that will hover above the ground as they hunt for insects such as larvae and grubs. Because of this, getting rid of other pest species like spiders first is one of the greatest strategies to prevent a wasp infestation on your home.
Food leftovers
Wasps do part of their own food hunting, but they also enjoy a free meal when they can get one. They consume foods high in protein and will scavenge leftovers like bits of meat or barbecue drippings. While you can’t completely prevent wasps from noticing your barbecue, you can make them less likely to stick around by covering your cooked food and quickly cleaning up spills.
Sugar
Wasps begin looking for supplies of sugar in the fall so they can survive the winter. Wasps will seek out any supply of sugar, including Coke cans, fruit juice, hummingbird food, and fallen fruit from trees.
Flowers
Plants with flowers entice wasps. They quickly take over a garden bed because they appreciate the aroma and nectar of the flowers. They may also be drawn to your powerful perfume if you wear it.
Which plants fend off wasps?
Wasps are essential to a balanced ecosystem. They pollinate flowers and keep nuisance insects under control. They are also infamous for their repulsive behavior of stinging people—some of whom are allergic to wasp venom—which is unpleasant. They are undesirable guests at picnics and around waste bins because of their affinity to sweet things, and they may sting in defense of their food if provoked. Some people might want to keep them away because of these factors.
But it is not advised to kill them because they are so valuable. Here, we’ll discuss a number of plants that deter wasps. Because wasps will just find another spot to nest and hunt if you make your yard or garden unappealing to them.
Because wasps are pollinators, very few plants create compounds that deter wasps. Instead, most plants produce substances that attract wasps.
On the other hand, there are some plants that are inherently repellent, such as mint, wormwood, lemongrass, citronella, clove, pennyroyal, sage, rosemary, geranium, chamomile, thyme, fennel, wintergreen, and sweet marjoram. Peels from cucumbers may also deter wasps.
Insect-eating plants are effective at killing wasps naturally. We’ll also talk about plants like eucalyptus, basil, and marigolds that are supposed to deter wasps but don’t.
Naturally-repellent plants
Only a few of the plants’ mechanisms for repelling wasps have been uncovered by research. The oils in plants are principally responsible for their repelling qualities.
Scientific evidence suggests that the essential oils of spearmint, peppermint, and ginger mint (Mentha arvensis) deter yellow jackets and paper wasps. The same is true for the aforementioned plants. Make your own natural wasp repellant at home.
This may be because menthone, a molecule that also deters yellow jackets and paper wasps, is present in peppermint oil.
The herb American wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) contains the repulsive substance methyl salicylate. Wintergreen really has a perfume that is similar to some mint plants because of methyl salicylate. Minty scents are a sure bet to keep wasps away, if you’re wondering what scents do that.
Wormwood oil kills worms and other insects, which accounts why why wasps stay away from it.
In a study, it was discovered that essential oil blends performed better than single oils. Both clove, geranium, lemongrass, and rosemary were effective combinations for warding off yellow jackets and paper wasps.
Therefore, even if the wasp repellent plants won’t be as effective as the concentrated oils evaluated in the experiments, they will still be helpful and should be grown in locations where wasp activity is unwelcome.
Cucumber peels
Pests including wasps, ants, silverfish, mites, and moths may be kept away from specific locations by scattering cucumber peels around.
Although this characteristic hasn’t been experimentally verified, cucurbitacins, a bitter substance found in cucumbers, are probably to blame. Cucurbitacins prevent both feeding and egg-laying in insects that consume vegetation and debris, which raises the possibility that they have repelling qualities.
Insectivorous plants
The three main types of carnivorous plants are sundews, pitcher plants, and venus flytraps.
All of them are capable of eating wasps. They feed without discrimination, though. Some of them are even big enough to consume frogs and other animals. So be warned that if you plant carnivorous plants, they may also consume some birds, reptiles, and amphibians in addition to other insects.
- The leaves of the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) feature clam-shaped traps at the ends. There are three trigger hairs inside each trap. The trap closes and the prey is broken down by the plant’s digestive secretions if two trigger hairs are touched, or if one hair is touched twice quickly.
- Different tactics are used by pitcher plants (genera Sarracenia, Darlingtonia, Heliamphora, Nepenthes, and Cephalotus). Their leaves have pitcher-like shapes and can store water. Insects are stuck, drown, and are devoured when they fly down into them to drink. The leaves of sundews (Drosera spp.) are covered in small, sticky hairs that act as flypaper-like traps for insects.
- Sundews, as opposed to flypaper, exude digestive juices onto the leaves to digest their diet. The Asian hornet, an invasive species that kills native bees, is selectively eaten by one type of pitcher plant in France (Sarracenia sp.). Other wasp species, bees, or European hornets don’t appear to be eaten by this pitcher plant.
Non-repellent plants
Finally, you could come across publications in your research that claim marigold, basil, and eucalyptus are also effective natural wasp repellents. However, solitary parasitic wasps have been used to protect eucalyptus trees in California from an insect known as the eucalyptus long-horned borer and social wasps have been gathered from eucalyptus plantations.
Furthermore, one type of basil does not deter wasps at all; in fact, it attracts them more than any other. Pollinators, such as wasps, prefer the blossoms of the African blue basil, which is a hybrid of the ordinary sweet basil (O. basilicum) and the East Asian camphor basil (Ocimum kilimandscharicum). Although the camphor basil makes insecticidal compounds, these are made in the leaves as a defense against herbivores rather than in the blooms where pollinators might be injured.
Wasps, bees, and butterflies are just a few of the pollinators that find marigolds to be attractive.
Conclusion
Wasps are beneficial to our gardens and the environment as a whole, but they may also be a bother, especially for people who have bee and wasp allergies. Here, we offer a number of non-lethal methods (wasp-repelling plants, cucumber peels) as well as one fatal option for reducing wasp populations in your yard or garden (carnivorous plants). We debunk several myths about plants that are said to repel wasps but may actually attract them as well.