I’m a gardening expert and my 24p hack will keep rats out of your garden – they absolutely hate the smell

A GARDENING expert has shared a super simple trick that will banish rats from your garden for good. 

So if the pesky creatures send shivers down your spine and you’re looking for a quick and easy solution that will deter them from entering, then you’ve come to the right place.

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It appears that rats tend to become a big problem in autumn in the UK as they enter gardens looking for somewhere warm to burrow, such as sheds or compost heaps.

But don’t worry, there is a simple way to deter them – and you may already have the secret at home. 

Rodents are likely to stay in a garden where they have access to food, which means they often steal fallen fruit from trees, feast on plants or even eat away at your crops. 

But according to a gardening pro, the best way to stop rats entering your garden is all down to garlic – yes, you heard that correctly. 

Juanita Schulze, a gardening expert from David’s Garden Seeds, claimed that rats absolutely hate the smell of garlic, making it a naturally effective method.

According to Juanita, you can either plant garlic or turn it into a homemade repellent spray to say goodbye to rats for good. 

She explained: “Rodents hate the strong smell of garlic. 

“Garlic does not come from seeds, but get some garlic bulbs and plant those in your garden to keep rodents away.” 

Rats rely on their sense of smell for survival as it helps them to search for food and sniff out predators. 

And garlic, which is loved by many Brits and is an essential ingredient for many of our favourite home-cooked dinners, has an overpowering scent that marks other smells in the garden, which rats will find disorienting.

Not only this, but garlic is a great repellant as it also contains sulfur compounds which rats will naturally avoid as they associate the smell with toxic substances that they believe could be harmful. 

If you fancy using garlic to keep rats at bay, all you need to do is simply plant garlic near the borders in your garden or by openings in fences, which will create a natural barrier that rats will not want to cross. 

Common garden pests

Common pests in the garden don’t need to be a cause for alarm. If you can identify them, you can work on getting rid of them and preventing them from returning.

Aphids (Greenfly, Blackfly)

Aphids are extremely common and can impact plant growth. They have tiny soft pear-shaped bodies, and are usually green or black. You may spot them clustered on the stem of soft shoots – look under leaves in particular – or may find a sticky substance on your plants that gives away aphids have been there sucking at the sap.

Whitefly

These small white-winged insects are related to aphids, at just 1 or 2 mm in length, and look very much like white moths as adults. They can be found on the underside of leaves, preferring younger, fresher leaves. They fly in clusters when you disturb them. Their lifecycle is only three weeks long, which means an infestation can occur very rapidly.

Slugs

An unmissable, squashy-looking body plus small sensory tentacles on its head. Slugs move along on one muscular foot. They range in scale from surprisingly small to terrifyingly large; limax cinereoniger species can grow comfortably beyond 20 cm in length.

Cabbage Moth Caterpillar

Cabbage moth caterpillars happily make their way into the heart of the vegetables, The caterpillars are distinguished in shades of yellow or browny green with no hair.

Mealy Bug

Mealybugs are tiny oval-shaped insects that have a white, powdery wax coating. There are several different species, many of which have what looks like legs coming from their sides and back end. In their earliest stage of life, it’s entirely possible to mistake them for fungus and not recognise them as insects at all.

As well as this, it’s also a good idea to plant plenty of garlic alongside any root crops growing in your garden such as carrots or potatoes as it can stop rats from trying to dig them up.

Not only this, but you can also turn garlic into a spray that will also keep rats away.

Tips for keeping pests from your garden

• Plant companion plants such as peppermint to repel rats.
• Place Garden Netting Pest Barrier, over your flowerbeds.
• Fill open-top containers with beer and place in soil to repel slugs.
• Spray plants with Neem Oil, to repel ants, flies, and spiders.
• Dust your flowerbeds with Diatomaceous Earth.
• Mix 1 tablespoon dish soap, 10 drops peppermint oil, and 4 cups water and spray on flowerbeds.
• Place eggshells around your plants to protect from slugs and snails.

Juanita advised: “Another garlic tip is to chop garlic finely and boil in water. Then strain the garlic pieces out and put the garlic water in a spray bottle. 

“Spray the bottoms of your plants to keep the rodents away. Spread chopped garlic around the outside of your garden.”

If you follow this method, you will need to reapply the garlic homemade repellent every few days or after it has rained to keep the scent around your garden. 

This is an easy, quick and natural way to prevent rats from causing havoc this autumn without having to use any harsh chemicals.

And if you’ve run out of garlic, don’t worry, you won’t need to splash the cash on the stuff, as you can pick it up for just 24p from Sainsbury’s.