You are more likely to notice rats at the moment at young ones will be leaving their nests (Image: Getty)
Gardens should be bursting with bounty now in late July, with flowers blooming and crops ready to be harvested, but it also means rats will have everything they need to survive. Rats become more noticeable in mid-summer, as it is just after their peak breeding season, and many young rats will be leaving nests to find their own shelter.
These young rats are likely to enter gardens as it is the easiest place for them to find food, as there will be fallen fruit, bird seeds and tender plants for them to devour. If rats settle in now, they can quickly damage plants, spoil the appearance of a garden, breed through autumn, and eventually move into homes once temperatures begin to fall. Preventing a small number of rats during summer is far easier than dealing with a serious infestation later in the year, and Juanita Schulze from David’s Garden Seeds has shared a natural way to keep them away.
Young rats come into gardens as there are plants, seeds and other easy food sources for them to eat (Image: Getty)
Juanita said: “You can plant herbs around your garden, sort of like a protective wall to repel rodents. Herbs that have the strongest smells such as mint (especially peppermint), catnip, rosemary, sage, lavender, oregano, and basil are the most effective plants at keeping these unwelcome creatures away.”
It may seem simple, but herbs contain strong-smelling compounds that can irritate a rat’s nose and make it feel too uncomfortable to stay in the area.
Rats have highly sensitive noses, so they will easily be overwhelmed by pungent plants, making it a simple way to get them to move before they settle in a garden without needing to use traps or poison.
Using herbs to deter rats is more effective in the middle of summer as young rats will be more uncertain about strange smells and are likely to run away as it can signal to them danger nearby.
However, the main reason to plant herbs now is that they can mask food odours in a garden, making it harder for rats to find anything to eat and prompting them to quickly move on to another area for an easier food source.
A simple yet effective way to keep rats away is to plant herbs in summer (Image: Getty)What are the best herbs to deter rats?
Peppermint, or any minty plant, is considered the absolute best way to keep rats away, as it contains menthol, which has a very intense odour that rats find really irritating.
It should be noted that peppermint spreads very quickly, so most gardeners grow it in a container to prevent it from overtaking their garden.
Lavender has a pleasant, flowery scent for humans, but it contains linalool and linalyl, which can be far too strong for rats, so they will likely move elsewhere to seek shelter.
Many common kitchen herbs like oregano, sage and basil can also be used as a rat repellent but it is best to plant them together around fences or other entry points.
You can also plant catnip, but it should be noted that it also will attract cats to your garden, and these mischievous felines are known to dig up gardens and eat plants as well.
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