How to control mosquitoes, slugs and earwigs

Plus: Toxic garlic, and spotted lanternfly and tick warnings

Chrysanthemums and marigolds contain chemicals that repel biting insects, but they won’t do any good by just growing in the garden. (Wikimedia Commons)

Hi, guys!

Happy Father’s Day to all you fantastic gardening dads! Take the day off if you can today — no mowing the lawn or weeding — just kick back and relax. You deserve it!

While you’re out there, presumably on a lounge chair — especially this evening — watch out for biting insects. I can relate, I spent exactly 5 minutes on my back deck last night and had to retreat indoors because the gnats were out of control. It wasn’t fast enough, though. My ankles are all bitten up this morning.

So, how to enjoy the great outdoors without donating blood to sustain a brood of mosquitoes or no-see-ums, which require protein from blood to make their eggs? A lot of readers have been asking which plants will repel them in their garden, and the answer is none — unless you crush their leaves and rub them on your exposed skin.

If you’re willing to do that, you have options: The leaves and/or flowers of chrysanthemums, marigolds, citronella and some lavender species contain oils that do a fine job repelling insects.

In fact, pyrethrin chemicals from French marigolds are so good at repelling fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and flies that they’ve been synthetically reproduced to create pyrethroids, which are sold as the active ingredients in many chemical pesticides and insect repellents.

But if you’re not prepared to slather on the marigold when you go outdoors, the best defense against those pests is a good offense: