Using Orange Peels In The Garden

Oranges are a healthy snack and ingredient but you’re most likely wasting one of the most beneficial parts, the peel. While we can’t eat them, using orange peels in the garden has many surprising advantages. Here are the top ways you can put your peels to work.

Contribute To The Health Of Your Compost

A healthy compost pile needs a combination of both “brown,” and “green,” materials. While brown materials such as dry leaves contain carbon, green ones add nitrogen. Orange peels are considered a green material so by adding them you’ll be providing your compost with a healthy dose of nitrogen. And by tearing or cutting the peels up you will be helping them to break down faster.

You may have heard specifically not to use orange peels in compost because of their acidity. They are acidic, however, as long as you don’t add them in huge proportions there’s no problem, only benefits. An added plus is that many backyard pests don’t like the smell of citrus peels so by adding them to your pile you can also keep them away.

Free Garden Fertilizer

You don’t have to wait for the entire composting process to be complete in order for you to reap the benefits of your peels. Instead, you can use them right away in your existing garden soil as a natural fertilizer that adds nitrogen and nutrients to your soil. A simple way to do this is to cut them up into small pieces and add them to the surface of your soil. Or you may want to bury your pieces a few inches deep under it for faster decomposition.

Another popular method is to dry them out and then grind them up into a powder using a coffee grinder. This powder can then be applied to or mixed in with the soil. If you like the idea of using natural methods to benefit your soil don’t overlook using bananas in the garden as fertilizer either, they are just as simple to use.

Get Rid Of Pests

Orange peels actually contain a chemical called d-Limonene which allows them to work as an all-natural insecticide too. It damages the nervous systems of pests such as aphids and ants which ultimately end up killing them. Placing your peels around plants that have pest problems is a natural way to get rid of them.

You won’t have to worry about causing any damage to the plants themselves. Since it is so safe to use, d-Limonene is used as the active ingredient in many environmentally friendly bug sprays. Many gardeners like to create their own spray by boiling half a cup of peels in water for ten minutes.

Once this solution has had the peels strained out and has cooled down it can be poured into a spray bottle and used around the garden on a weekly basis. This solution can also be sprayed on dogs to prevent ticks.

Using orange peels in the garden can help to repel mosquitoes too. By placing pieces of peel in the soil close to where you like to relax such as near your gazebo, porch, pergola, or patio you can lower your chances of being bit. Peels can even be rubbed onto your skin directly to help keep them away as well.

Keep Pets Safe

The majority of dogs and cats don’t like the smell of oranges. You can use this to your advantage by helping to keep your pets safe. There are many plants that can be toxic to your pets. Lilies, oleander, and azaleas are just three examples but there are many more. By adding pieces of orange peel to the soil surrounding toxic plants you can help keep your pets away from them. This can also work in potted plants indoors as well.

Get The Fire Started

A lot of people are quite surprised to find out that you can use orange peels in garden fire pits as kindling. That is, once they have dried out of course. The oils in the peels are flammable. In fact, they actually allow them to burn longer than paper and provide you with a fragrant citrus scent. When you want to have a cozy outdoor bonfire or even start up the barbecue skip the newspaper and stick with the peels.

We bet you didn’t know that there were so many ways to use orange peels in the garden. So the next time you enjoy one or more of these tasty fruits be sure to put those peels aside instead of in the trash, you’re garden will thank you later.

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