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You are here: Home / Gardening / 5 Ways to Use Citrus Peels in Your Garden

5 Ways to Use Citrus Peels in Your Garden

March 15, 2021 by Alea Milham 9 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.
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orange peels on a garden bench

Don’t throw out your orange peels and lemon peels! Save them and try out one of these 5 ways to use citrus peels in your garden and yard.

5 Ways to Use Citrus Peels in Your Garden including helping your compost, how to get rid of bugs in your garden and attracting butterflies with citrus peels

The spring and summer months are the perfect time to enjoy a juicy orange or some fresh-squeezed lemonade. But when you are done, don’t toss those citrus peels in the trash. They can actually prove to be quite beneficial to your garden, providing it with nutrients, pest protection, and more.

5 Ways to Use Citrus Peels in Your Garden

Take a look below at 5 ways to use citrus peels in your garden. These little peels can pack some gardening power you may not expect.

1. Give your compost pile some nitrogen.

Nitrogen is a much-needed ingredient in your compost pile. One of the easiest ways to add nitrogen to your compost pile is to add citrus peels to it. As they decompose nitrogen will be added. You don’t have to do anything special, just toss the peels into the compost when you have them.

2. Stir in some nutrients to your soil.

Citrus peels contain sulfur, magnesium, calcium, and more nutrients your garden will thrive off of. Stir some of these nutrients into your soil. To add citrus peel to your soil, dry the peels and then blend them into a fine powder. Stir the powder directly into the soil and let the magic happen.

3. Say goodbye to aphids.

Aphids can eat away at your greenery, causing unsightly holes and discoloring. Beat them at their own game. Take orange peels and create a slit in them, then slide them onto the plant you wish to protect. It is just that easy.

4. Repel mosquitoes.

You can keep mosquitoes from biting when you add some citrus peels to your garden. Rubbing the peels on plants, on your skin, or even simmering the peels in water and using them as a spray can help keep your skin bite-free.

5. Attract some fluttery friends.

Leaving citrus peels in a shallow dish is a great way to attract butterflies to your garden. They will come and feed off of the sweet juices left on the peels and in turn add some color and ambiance to your garden.

So don’t toss those peels, use them in your garden instead. They are the perfect product for creating a healthy and pest-free space you can enjoy all season long.

orange peels on a garden bench

More Frugal Gardening Tips

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  • How to Garden for {Nearly} Free
  • 5 Ways to Use Coffee Grounds in the Garden
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About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Deanna says

    March 25, 2022 at 3:05 pm

    Always enjoy organic tips. I buried a five gallon bucket 3/4 in ground, drilled holes in it so worms can travel in and out. You would be surprised how fast the worms help break down the compost.

    Reply
  2. Dr.Karuna.G. says

    December 9, 2018 at 7:15 pm

    We have a small eclectic front garden.
    The neighbourhood cats used our garden as their toilet.
    The orange peel has done the trick.
    No more cat poo.

    Reply
  3. Nancy Sink says

    August 24, 2016 at 7:20 pm

    We have greenhouses and also produce. We are having a lot of trouble with slugs and aphids. I was happy to read your organic remedy for aphids as I have a neighbor who owns a produce house and can get his ole citrus .
    Thank You,
    Nancy

    Reply
    • Ben says

      June 26, 2022 at 7:43 am

      Use tea bag works great hon aphids and mice

      Reply
  4. Leona says

    May 22, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    Can I sock the peels in water an let them decompost and put them in the dirt after?

    Reply
  5. Joline says

    May 16, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    Thank you for the citrus peel idea. I just juiced some of my Meyer lemons (84 cubes of lemon juice made in ice cube trays and frozen) and saved the peels to make lemon marmelaide but will spread some in my yard. I tried the citrus peel on butterfly bushes and no more aphids!

    Reply
  6. Monique says

    June 14, 2015 at 11:03 am

    The peels will keep cats away from your garden.
    Just put them between your plants.
    Greetings from the Netherlands.

    Monique

    Reply
    • M. Brown says

      May 31, 2016 at 5:08 pm

      Yes, this is one I heard about years ago. Surprised the one about cats was not on this site as well.

      Reply
    • Chris. says

      May 6, 2022 at 7:34 am

      Thank you Monique, will try that. Greetings from me too in Cornwall.

      Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.

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