FINCHforum

Does anyone know of any plants that are effective mosquito repellents? I've heard geranium and lemon grass are good, but I'd love to hear from personal experience and others' opinions. I also know there are many varieties of plants with the same name so pics or more specific, even scientific, names would be wonderful. I'm trying to plan what plants I will put in the outdoor aviary that is under construction and am trying to find practical plants. That means I'm also looking for plants that the birds can eat, so if you have any great ideas on that too I'd appreciate it!

The plants alone will not repel the mosquitoes...you would need to crush the plants to extract the oils from them. You could do a layer of pool screening (mounted about 1/2 inch form the wire) that can be rolled down prior to dusk. You would have to do the top as well.

There is a plant sold in our area as the mosquito plant, citronella. I believe it is actually a type of scented geranium. I never thought these things really worked, just a big sales hype, but last week at Home Depot, another customer told me she had three of them on her patio last summer and never had a mosquito problem. Since mosquitos are a HUGE problem in our area, I figured it was worth a try, so I got three of them. Of course, keeping all sources of standing water dry probably does more, as that takes away their breeding places.

I'm not sure about plants for mosquitos but bird resistant plants I can advise on. I found this site very helpful when choosing plants for my aviary.

http://www.finchniche.com/features_aviaryplants.php

I have canaries in with my finches who love eating plants the most. But all the finches have a good nibble now and then and are also far from innocent. Long grasses like Restio or Zebra grass can withstand the birds. I found that they chew on shorter, wispy grasses too fast and the plant suffers too quickly. Trees with tougher leaves like a Beech works well, as the leaves can handle the nibbling. Finer leaves like the smaller ferns don't last long with the canaries and neither do plants with small, succulent leaves. I think they may be fine with just finches though

One tip I would suggest is trying the plants in pot plants first. This way you can rescue the plant before the birds completely destroy it. My birds love Mirror Bush (Coprosma repens) and luckily they are not expensive my side. So I just keep rotating the pots and let the plants rest for a while and get some new growth before going in again.

Spearmint and peppermint work well but like Cindy said you have to release the scent. We rub a leaf or two on our clothing, brushing up against the plant works well too.

The main thing with mosquito control is to dump standing water often, daily. Do not use plants that collect water. Screening is going to be you best option.