I’m a garden expert – how to keep pests away from your plants & it will make your backyard prettier too

EVEN expert gardeners have trouble keeping pests away from their lawns.

If your yard is overrun by bugs, snails, slugs, or other critters, the secret to maintaining your garden might be planting more flowers.

According to the gardening experts at House Beautiful, to keep pests at bay.

Called "sacrificial plants," the companion plants are often hardier and attract pests that would normally devastate your garden.

"Plant-munching pests might be frustrating, but they play an important role in planet-friendly gardening and maintaining a healthy ecosystem," the experts explained.

By using "trap crops," you can control pests without introducing heavy pesticides or chemicals to your outdoor ecosystem.

You can experiment with placement, and plant choice, depending on which flowers you need to protect, and the layout of your garden.

The experts said you can use sacrificial plants to border your garden, or you can plant them in groups a little farther away from your showstopper flowers.

Colorful nasturtiums are a popular trap plant since they look beautiful in flowerbeds but also attract aphids, a common enemy of many gardeners.

You can pair them with patches of lavender for an exciting contrast and increased pest protection.

The strong smell of lavender will deter many biting bugs, but pollinators will flock to the colorful herb.

Speaking of herbs, add chervil to your herb garden if slugs are ruining your crops.

The delicate, feathery leaves will catch the pests' attention instead.

If you grow vegetables, introduce marigolds before you add veggies to the garden bed.

Flying insects will happily chomp away at marigolds and leave your vegetables alone.

And, the experts said, if you add sunflowers to your yard at least 70 days before you plant vegetables, no matter how far from your garden beds they are, the matured flowers will keep stinkbugs and other pests away.

Though it may seem counterintuitive, if you want to protect your garden from pests, allow clumps of stinging nettles that crop up naturally to flourish.

Keeping a stand of nettles in your yard will attract aphids, the experts explained, so don't rush to exterminate this weed when you see it.