Essential oils and gardening

It's not widely known, but essential oils play an important role in gardening. This is true for your vegetable garden and your flowers. They can act as a deterrent to insect pests and, since these insects carry diseases, viruses and bacteria, essential oils act as a form of protection or "preventive medicine" for your garden. For example, fungi and rot are pests that essential oils can quickly and effectively eliminate.

In fact, the antiviral and antibacterial properties of certain essential oils are simply those of the plants from which the aromatic substances are extracted. But the role of essential oils in gardening is not limited to this.

Essential oils can have the same beneficial effects as those observed in crop combinations. For example, when growing roses, it's a good idea to intersperse garlic and onion plants. Not only do garlic and onions act as fungicides, they also considerably enhance the beauty and fragrance of roses grown in this way. The same applies to tomatoes and basil: grown close to tomato plants, basil enriches the fragrance of tomatoes before they are harvested. As another example, it has been known for centuries that carrots do much better when grown alongside marigolds...

In 1982, two biologists from the University of Washington in the United States established an original mode of transmission of insecticide protection in willow and alder. After infesting these trees with caterpillars, the researchers observed that their leaves produced terpenes and tannins that made them unpalatable to the caterpillars. Better still, the biologists established that these trees were able to "warn" other trees in the vicinity so that they too would produce the protective substances. The means of communication was through the emission of aromatic molecules into the atmosphere (from their bark).

We know that there are many other mutual aid and defense mechanisms, but although they have long been observed by farmers and gardeners, they are not always scientifically established, as they can be particularly complex, as the example of the American researchers shows.

For your vegetable garden, here are a few examples of effective combined crops and the essential oils you can use to ensure protection, vigour and taste for your vegetables. The "dosage" is as follows: 4 to 8 drops of essential oil (to be chosen according to your crops) for 3 liters of water (preferably for morning watering).