How To Keep Ants Off Your Picnic Blanket Using Herbs And Essential Oils

Picnics are a fun way to enjoy a meal in the great outdoors. They can be romantic, a great way to get together with friends, and a fun time for the family. Ants joining your picnic can take away from the romance and fun, though. Rather than taking away the whimsy of a picnic by surrounding your picnic blanket with ant traps, we've found some natural ideas to try out that use fresh herbs and essential oils to keep ants out of your food and off of your blanket.

Before you start plucking herbs from the garden or riffling through your essential oils, the first step in having an ant-free picnic is ensuring you're using preventative measures. This includes using containers for food travel that keep the bugs out, using a clean picnic blanket that doesn't have any food residue on it, and finding a picnic spot at your destination that doesn't appear to have ant hills nearby. 

Now it's time to pack your essential oils and herbs.We've already shown you how to use lemon juice to keep ants away from the pool, and the same principal applies here: These strong smells irritate ants and disrupt their scent trails. For oils, your best defense against ants includes peppermint, eucalyptus, and citrus. For fresh herbs, grab some sprigs of mint, lavender, rosemary, or even some marigold flowers. If you have thriving mint plants, pick some fresh from your garden. You can even use your own homegrown lavender. Cinnamon and garlic powder, which you may already have in your spice rack, can deter ants, too. Here's how to use these herbs and oils to keep your picnic ant-free.

Your picnic blanket is meant to be your cozy spot to sit and unwind while enjoying delicious food. To keep ants away, you can spray some essential oils mentioned above directly on your blanket. Add your chosen essential oils to a spray bottle, along with some water and a splash of vinegar, and spritz your blanket. Your blanket will smell fresh and keep ants away. You could also use the essential oils in the wash when you clean your picnic blanket to lock in the aroma. Some of these soothing scents can also repel mosquitoes like magic, making them a must-have in your picnic basket.

Along with or in place of the essential oils, you can use the aforementioned fresh herbs. Again, there are a few ways you can use these as well. You can make a lovely bouquet of fresh lavender, marigolds, mint, and rosemary to use as a centerpiece on your picnic blanket, or lay sprigs of each around the blanket. Sprinkle the cinnamon and garlic powder around the blanket perimeter to create a trail barrier. For an even more unique and inventive way to keep ants away from the foods you're enjoying, try making lavender cookies or adding sprigs of lavender or mint to your lemonade. You can even use rosemary to season the meat for sandwiches, as well as garlic powder. Cinnamon is an excellent addition to all sorts of desserts and drinks.