Amazon.com Amazon.com loading...What Are Hedge Apples? In addition, sliced hedge apples placed in enclosed, small spaces did repel insects. Here's one important thing to remember about using hedge apples for pest control, the smell is the key to success. Also, slicing your hedge apples will give you better results than placing whole ones around your home. We put a bag of hedge apples in our freezer last fall, but we haven't used them yet.