Question about the effectiveness of interplanted herbs

My backyard is something of an edible forest. I have grapes, quince, apricots, figs, currants, strawberries all over the place, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, pomegranates, hazelnuts, rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, tarragon, saffron, and sweet bay. Additionally there are a couple of medicinal herbs: St John’s Wort (bush form) and echinacea growing everywhere.

My plants are really starting to put on fruit, and I’m becoming aware of the fact that my yard is probably a rodent’s paradise. I keep it VERY tidy. Everything is pruned and maintained. The beds are mulched, lawn mowed weekly, etc. it looks like a garden you’d see at a chateau or something. Despite this, there is food everywhere and I’m sure it smells insanely good to rats and mice.

My question is, if I add a few more herbs to the landscape planted in between my fruiting stuff, particularly more rosemary & sage, will that repel rodents? I guess I’d be willing to plant a lot of sage because I love it, but I want to be sure it’s functional. I currently have 3 sage plants in different areas and that is already more than I realistically need for consumption, but if it’s serving a purpose by repelling rodents, I will definitely add more.

While rats and mice do rely heavily on smell to find food... I'm not sure you want to add enough sage to counter the smells of all that other food. If you planted 1 aromatic herb per fruiting plant... maybe it would mask the smell enough for any small plants. And even then, I'm not sure. I think it might be better to look at other options for rodent control.

One thing that comes to mind immediately you are already doing. Keep it mowed short and cleaned up and debris. Mice and rodents do not like crossing open area and will be less comfortable in those open areas. This means they are less likely to go there in the first place. And if they do, they are easier for predators to catch.

Which brings me to my second thought, which is to attract rodent predators to the area. Some people like cats, some people prefer not having them roaming around. You can put up high perches to attract hawks and owls and the like. Do you have any non-poisonous snakes in your area? Perhaps habitat to attract those too.

There are plants that you can grow to discourage rodents.  French marigold, mint, garlic, onions and sage.  Pretty plants would be lavender and daffodils.

We were having a problem with snakes and a mother cat drop off her kitten.  We no longer have a problem with snakes and the kitten is now about three yrs old loves to show off her finds of snakes and mice.

I second Mint. I have made mint balls and placed them around my crawlspace to keep mice out and it seemed to work. Also, the idea about attracting predatory birds sounds like a good idea as well. Possibly even pre-recorded bird calls might be affective.

One things to keep in mind with scent based things that either deter or mask other smells... if there is a good enough reason for the mice to be there, they stop working. So a variety of control methods is good.