How To Repel Ticks With The Help Of An Overlooked Flower

Ticks have a simple MO: They hide out in the garden and latch onto an unsuspecting victim that brushes past them. They're so small that they're practically unnoticeable, but once they bite into a source of blood, they start to grow and become visible. By then, you will need to take extraordinary measures to get them off you or your pets, and the pests can spread diseases in the meantime. An effective way to stop these little blood suckers is to repel them by growing plants that they hate. Tansy is an overlooked champion, but it's one to treat with caution.

Common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) was brought to the New World in the early 1600s, and it thrives in USDA hardiness zones 3 to 8. One reason to treat it carefully is that it may take over your garden. In some states — such as Colorado, Wyoming, and Minnesota — it's considered a noxious weed and prohibited. Another reason to think twice is that the leaves and flowers are toxic. That's bad news if you (or your pets) ingest them or get them on your skin because they contain thujone, which is a skin irritant and can be deadly when consumed in large quantities. It's good news, however, if you're looking for an effective tick repellent.

In fact, tansy's value as an insect repellent is one reason the early settlers brought it to the New World. For centuries, people have spread dried leaves and flowers around the house to keep out ants, beetles — and ticks.

Tansy is easy to grow; It likes full sun or partial shade, will thrive in a variety of soil types, and doesn't need feeding. That makes a good addition to a meadow, but since the plant spreads aggressively, it can wreak havoc on your yard or garden. You might want to consider growing it in a container and collecting the leaves and flowers for drying, but be careful. To avoid possible skin irritation from thujone exposure, wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt when handling any part of this plant.

You can do as people have done for centuries and spread the dried plants around your house for tick control. People of yore used to consume tansy tea for a variety of ailments, but that is no longer recommended, due to the toxic nature of thujone. However, you might consider making a strong tea from the flowers and leaves and spraying that around the house to keep ticks away.

You can also buy tansy essential oil, which is used for aromatherapy, and put it in a diffuser or add it to water to make a spray. Be aware that many aromatherapy tansy oils are made from blue tansy (Tanacetum annuum), which comes from Morocco, and not the common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) that grows in North America. Blue tansy contains chamazulene, a compound known for its soothing effects, but if you want to keep ticks away, you need the common tansy's combination of compounds.