Plant herbs in your greenhouse and take advantage of their magical abilities to keep off pests and diseases, as well as looking pretty and giving you plenty of deliciously fragrant flavourings to pick for your cooking.
Deter unwanted Insects with Herbs
Essential oils from herbs have scents so powerful they can mask those of target plants, confusing predatory insects: others find flying through air fragrant with herbal oils an unsettling experience and avoid it if they can. This makes herbs outstandingly good companion plants, especially in the greenhouse where those essences are particularly concentrated. Whitefly hate the scent of basil, for example: so sow it thickly around the feet of your tomatoes to keep them off (they go together beautifully in the kitchen, too).
Coriander keeps greenfly away, as does chervil. Catnip (Nepeta) grown under aubergines keeps flea beetles off, while colourful pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) is pungent enough to confuse both whitefly and greenfly.
Vice Versa - Attract the Insects you want with Greenhouse Herbs
It works the other way around too: borage sown among greenhouse plants is irresistible to bees, persuading them to make that all-important detour under your glass and pollinate your fruit while they're there. You’ll find all these herbs for sale in our garden centre here in Co. Limerick, so drop by and take your pick.
