Eco-friendly ways to deter insects from your home and garden this summer - and do you really need to?

Woe is us - summer is here, but it’s brought with it mosquito bites to our evenings in the garden, and our veggies are being munched up by slugs and snails. We can’t even escape indoors, with moths and ants and fruit flies galore sneaking their way in.

The bugs are now well and truly back from their cold season slumber, and many of us might be seeking ways to keep insects out of our space over the summer months. But the environmentally-minded among us also realise how important they are - no matter how we might feel about them - and how vital it is that we don’t harm them or other wildlife if we do decide to try and keep some of them away.

Many of the UK’s insects are now in decline, battered by issues like widespread pesticide use, the changing climate, and the development of the much of the wild green space they once called home into housing or farmland. These little guys also prop up entire ecosystems, and with one in six species now considered at risk of disappearing from the British Isles altogether, it’s clear that the loss of more insects won’t just affect them alone.

NationalWorld spoke to ecologist Connor Butler about some ways to deter insects from your house or flowerbed this summer without further endangering them, as well as whether we need to make our peace with insects for the sake of nature. Here’s what he had to say:

Eco-friendly ways to keep insects out of your home or garden

When it comes to not having insects in your house, Butler told NationalWorld that prevention is often the kindest and most environmentally-friendly cure. “Whilst predominantly all insects are harmless to us in the UK, they can be an annoyance inside our houses,” he said.

“Simple acts like closing your blinds and windows as it gets dark can stop insects that are drawn to the light from coming in. I’d also recommend keeping an eye on your fruit bowl and freezing any fruits that are over-ripe, as this will attract fruit flies.”

If you’ve got house plants, you might also struggle with fungus gnats. These common insects thrive in damp soil, and Connor said if you wanted to avoid them your best bet was to make sure that you let the soil dry out completely in between watering.

Environmental experts typically advised against using pesticides to control insects in your garden, as these can inadvertently affect other helpful species too, like bumblebees - with even small doses able to scramble their ability to find food or reproduce - or creatures further up the food chain like birds or hedgehogs. Many bug sprays intended for indoor use also have ingredients that can be harmful to pets or young children in high doses, besides their environmental impact.

Many flying insects can also be deterred by specific scents, like burning a citronella candle (although this can also be dangerous for pets), or even companion planting. Wasps reportedly dislike the smell of mint, basil, thyme, eucalyptus, and lemongrass, while The Wildlife Trusts also recommend choosing plants that are less attractive to slugs and snails to help keep them out of veggie patches - like garlic, lavender, rosemary, hardy geraniums, hellebores and hydrangeas. You can also use barriers in your garden - like copper tape or wool pellets - which may help protect vulnerable plants from slug and snail damage.

“In reality, we just need to live with them,” Connor said. “Insects were here long before we built our houses and they serve a really important role in nature - from decomposing waste, pollinating crops, and as food for our beloved garden birds.”

Rethinking our relationship with bugs

Connor urged people to rethink whether they really needed to be driving insects away, even those often considered 'pests', like mosquitos, houseflies, slugs, snails, or caterpillars. Flying insects alone have decreased by around 60% in the past 20 years, “which is really worrying to scientists”.

“We should try to do what we can to support them as they really do make the world go round,” he said. “Whilst mosquitos are considered blood-sucking pests by some, they are actually important pollinators and their main diet is nectar. When it comes to slugs and snails, we might lose a few plants in our gardens to them, but they’re really good food for hedgehogs, which are also on the decline. Likewise, we loathe caterpillars in our garden, but love butterflies - but you can’t have one without the other.”

A good garden is one that is full of nature, Connor added. “By providing log piles and areas for insects to shelter over winter, you’ll find your garden full of ladybirds come the summer. These beetles are a gardener’s best friend as they feed on aphids and other insects which damage your plants.

“Having bushes in your garden also provides shelter for birds, which in turn will spend more time in your garden feeding on caterpillars and slugs. If you can provide habitat for wildlife, they in turn help you to manage the ‘pests’ in your garden,” he said.

You can follow Connor Butler on Instagram @connor_the_ecologist to learn more.

Amber Allott is NationalWorld’s environment and sustainability specialist, covering all things green - from climate to conservation. If you liked this article you can follow Amber on X (Twitter) here and sign up for the free daily NationalWorld Today newsletter here - with Amber bringing you the UK's most important, pressing, weird and wonderful environmental stories every Tuesday.