Question
Dear Charlotte

I read your article about clover in the lawn and read that you used herbs and plants to keep the inside of your house free of insects. You also mentioned that you never see a cockroach, ant, house fly, silver fish,or spider in your house.

Could you kindly advise me how to do this.

With kind regards
Annabel


Answer
Hi Annabel;
Uh, what do you mean house lizards?????
I don't get lizards inside.
See, I love my little lizards because they eat all those bad bugs, especially the aphids off my roses, but I don't want to socialize with them. I do NOT want them coming to tea.LOL
Lavender keeps out houseflies. I have a large container of lavender by each door, and a handing basket with other plants and lavender hanging near the back door.
Put sprigs of lavender by the food on a picnic table to keep flies away from the food.
Rosemary keeps roaches out. they just will not come in when it is present. I grow it, and once a month I put a piece about 3 inches long on each cabinet, and pantry shelf, under the sinks and lavatories, under the washer and dryer and fridge. Where pipes come into the house, I stick a piece in the hole beside the pipe.
I use lavender bath gels to bathe with and spray the room with lavender mist. Lavender is very restful, and helps you relax and go to sleep. This summer I started using lavender body mist for my cologne, and for the first summer in my life, mosquitoes leave me alone.
I am not sure what keeps the spiders out. After I started using the lavender and rosemary, I noticed I didn't see a spider every time I turned around, and hadn't seen them for some time. I used to have a lot of them.Same with the silverfish.I used to see them coming up in my bathtubs and lavatories.
I put cedar bark mulch all over the yard. I just sprinkle it on, and it sifts into the grass because I use the small mulch, not the decorative bark, doesn't hurt the lawn mower, and it repels termites, ticks and fleas, and other insects, but I am not sure which others.
I put a little trail of it around the foundation of the house, for termites. Silverfish live near the foundation, so it may be the cedar bark that is chasing the silverfish.
Know what? If you have cock roaches and spiders etc, that may be what the lizards are coming in for, if you have little Geccos. Geccos eat cock roaches. Blockbuster puts Geccos in their stores to eat all the roaches.
If there are no food bugs in the house, the lizards should stay out.They go where the food is.
You can put a drop of lavender oil on a cotton ball, and tuck it inside a stuffed toy, put it in the bed with a tired baby, or in the baby's arms while you rock it, and it will realax the baby, and let it go to sleep.
I made a little pocket in a stuffed toy,to zip open and tuck in a cotton ball, for all the grandchildren when they were babies. They get too tired to sleep, and just a few minutes with lavender under their little noses, and they will start to relax, and be sleeping soundly in no time.
I make carpet dust with Epsom Salts and Lavender oil.
I put the Salts in a blender or food processor and whirr till it is finer, mix some lavender oil with it, and close it tightly overnight. Sprinkle on the carpet, and your room smells lovely. You can use other scents. Get the tiny bottles of oil at health food stores. You get 100% pure oil, so a few drops goes a long way.
I put these dusts in glass containers, because plastic bags etc will let the aroma leech out in a few days.
Put the oils in Epsom Salts, and mix it for bath salts. You get a scented bath that will help relax tired muscles.
I go to yard sales and look for decanters and pretty bottles with a lid or cap, and put a few drops of food coloring (not wilton) in the Salts with the oil, mix it well, a few drops of the coloring will dye the salts,put it in the decanters, and keep them on my vanity. They look so pretty in my bathroom.I color the lavender bath salts lavender, the rose scented darker pink etc.
Write me if I left anything out, or if there is another problem I can help you solve with herbs and oils.
Charlotte

Hi Annabel;
I am sorry for not answering your  followup question sooner, I just found it, while looking for something else.
Amyway, the dreid herbs would help some, but the fresh is much better.
How about ordering the seeds and growing your opwn.
I order my seeds from          www.raingardens.com

I have no idea what your climate is there, but if they can't be grown outside, maybe in pots inside.
Also, you could order the oils.
I order my Pennyroyal and Lavender oils from
www.libertynatural.com
And
www.youngliving.org
I put lavender on little cosmetic pads to rub on pillows, so If you put some rosemary oil on something, and slid it under the fridge etc, but that would work. Just dab some of the oil by where pipes come into the house, maybe on the wall. The oil may even last longer than the fresh herb.
I think raingardes ships worldwide, and the sites for oils too.
If not, is there a health food store near you, or a place where they sell herb oils for aromatherapy?
Search the web for places near you.