{"id":83,"date":"2008-03-03T05:04:03","date_gmt":"2008-03-03T13:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=83"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:33:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:33:24","slug":"companion-planting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/companion-planting\/","title":{"rendered":"Companion Planting"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMPANION PLANTING
\n<\/font><\/font><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>The practice of c<\/strong>ompanion planting has been going on for centuries.\u00a0 Now that everything green is chic again, it’s fashionable once more.\u00a0 It’s easy, can produce excellent results and often reduces or eliminates the need for pesticides.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Companion planting simply means pairing or grouping different kinds of plants that perform beneficial functions for each other.\u00a0 Native Americans did it with the famous “three sisters”\u009d–corn, beans and squash.\u00a0 Beans fix beneficial nitrogen in the soil, which helps the corn, which in turn provides support and protection for bean and squash vines.\u00a0 All three species prosper and Native Americans and subsequent generations of wise farmers and gardeners have benefited from higher yields as the result. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The simplest kind of companion planting involves a practice that we plant collectors use instinctively–installing a wide variety of plants in our gardens.\u00a0 This horticultural smorgasbord confuses pests, attracts a variety of pollinators and contributes to biodiversity.\u00a0 Monocultures, or large groupings of a single plant variety, draw plant predators like magnets.\u00a0 Whether the monoculture is a perfect lawn, a breathtaking rose garden or an acre of petunias, you might as well put up a sign that says “All You Can Eat Buffet”\u009d for the aphids or grubs or other insect varmints.\u00a0 Unless you enjoy activities like handpicking Japanese beetles full time, you are going to have to use heavy doses of pesticides to control the predators that will besiege your plants.\u00a0 Of course there are organic pesticides, but I think it’s much easier, safer and more practical to put in some companion plants. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Members of the mint family have a reputation for repelling creatures ranging from aphids to mice.\u00a0 I find that underplanting my roses with catmint or Nepeta keeps down the aphid population and may also repel earwigs.\u00a0 Basil helps tomatoes by repelling insects.\u00a0 The leafy mint relative may also help boost tomato flavor and vigor when planted close by.\u00a0 Since the two plants are natural culinary partners, they make great companions–either in the garden or in pots.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many people won’t plant mints because mints are notoriously invasive.\u00a0 However, pot culture allows you to have your mint without worrying about it surging over your other plantings like a tidal wave.\u00a0 It’s very easy to place an array of potted mints throughout the garden and you can even make the pots disappear by sinking them into the soil. \u00a0As companion plants mints are also highly desirable because they attract all kinds of bees, butterflies and other essential pollinating insects.\u00a0 If you are worried about attracting bees to sitting areas or the places where your children play, planting mints elsewhere in the yard or garden will draw them away.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For generations farmers have surrounded their kitchen vegetable gardens with borders of marigolds.\u00a0 The plants’ pungent aroma repels pests and the roots secrete a chemical that deters harmful nematodes.\u00a0 Even if you don’t particularly like the aroma of marigolds, they are worth installing in vegetable or flower gardens because of their pest-controlling ways.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Another form of companion planting provides an alternate host for plant predators.\u00a0 Install eggplant next to potatoes, for example, and the potato beetles may prefer the eggplant.\u00a0 You may lose a few eggplants, but you will preserve the potatoes.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Refugia are plantings that provide habitats for beneficial species.\u00a0 A classic example of refugia are traditional hedgerows, the areas between farmers’ fields that are deliberately left uncultivated.\u00a0 Refugia usually house birds, small animals and a variety of insects, many of which are beneficial to crops.\u00a0 Most of us don’t have enough space for traditional refugia, but we can plant a variety of shrubs and small trees, especially around the perimeters of our properties.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The important thing about companion planting, or any “green”\u009d practice, is that you approach it as a simple, practical solution, not an onerous burden.\u00a0 With our heritage of Puritanism, we Americans tend to think that if something is good for us, it also has to be difficult or bad tasting or time and labor intensive.\u00a0 In fact, once you have a little bit of knowledge, companion planting in one form or another is just as easy as any other kind of planting.\u00a0 To get that knowledge, seek out the gardening classic Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening <\/em>by Louise Riotte<\/a> <\/em>(Storey Books, 1998), which is available in paperback from major book retailers.<\/em>
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COMPANION PLANTING \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The practice of companion planting has been going on for centuries.\u00a0 Now that everything green is chic again, it’s fashionable once more.\u00a0 It’s easy, can produce excellent results and often reduces or eliminates the need for pesticides. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Companion planting simply means pairing or grouping different kinds of plants that perform beneficial … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1697,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/1697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}