Do you love lemons? If you eat a lot of them at home and like to use up leftover food, we have some excellent tips for you on how to use lemon zest in the garden. Stop throwing away the valuable citrus peels because you can achieve great results with them.
Using lemon zest in the garden: How to use it correctly
Lemons are a wonderful fruit that is often used in the home but is also very useful for the garden. Whether you want to nourish the soil, protect plants from pests or simply add a pleasant scent, lemon peels should not be thrown in the trash. Collect them after eating and cooking and freeze them during the winter months for effective use in the spring and summer. Just remember to replace the lemon zest in the garden regularly, especially if it is washed away by the rain or has lost its scent over time.
Increase soil acidity
There are some plants like azaleas, nasturtiums, blueberries, blueberries and radishes that require acidic soil to thrive. If you want to increase acidity naturally, you can use citrus zest. Grate the collected lemon peels and spread the zest on newspaper. Allow them to air dry for a few days. Then spread it over the soil surface and mix it lightly with the soil.
Use against pests
If you don't want to use chemical pesticides against pests like aphids in your garden, you can spread the grated lemon peels around the affected plants. Be sure to cover all affected areas evenly and replace the zest regularly. In this case, they should not be dried so that they give off a strong scent.
Sprinkle some around garden beds and on window sills and doorways to deter ants and cats, who also dislike the strong citrus scent. This is how you can get rid of them without poison. To enhance the effect of citrus zest, you can also mix it with coffee grounds and then spread the natural mixture around the garden to keep pets away from the beds.
Protect your patio too, by strategically spreading zest to get rid of mosquitoes and ants in summer.
Also read:Use walnut shells in the garden: They are so useful in every organic garden!
Use lemon zest in the garden: attract butterflies
Although lemon zest deters most insects, it can attract butterflies. Put them in a shallow bowl and place it between the beds. You can also mix these with the zest of other citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruits. The sweet scent attracts the beautiful insects and helps you not only add color to your garden but also promote pollination of plants.
On the compost
If you grated too many lemon peels for a recipe, don't worry! They are very useful in compost piles as the thin strips decompose more quickly and are a good source of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The strong scent can actually help keep birds and rats away too.
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