Thinking spring? I am. Planning the vegetable garden and the flower beds and looking for ways to be green, save money and get a bigger harvest with less work and less chemicals. Companions are the way to go. That means plant to different types vegetables by each other, creating a symbiotic relationship. Just as there are beneficial insects that eat destructive insects or improve pollination, there are beneficial combinations of plants that help fight pests or increase yields.
Companions plants can be used to draw pest away form good plants. Some companion plants are grown to add things such as nitrogen to the soil.Legumes fix nitrogen. Still other companions are grown to deter insects naturally. Some plants are grown just to shade more fragile, desirable plants. May we suggestions a few places to start.
- Cabbage, Broccoli and Cauliflower – Plant with aromatic herbs (mint is a traditional companion plant for cabbage), beets or chard, but not dill, strawberries, pole beans, or tomatoes.
- Lettuce – Plant with radishes or carrots
- Spinach – Plant with fava beans
- Globe Onions – Plant with beets, carrots, lettuce and cabbage but not with beans or English peas
- Turnips – Plant with English peas but not with Irish potatoes
- Beets – Plant with lettuce, kohlrabi, onions, garlic, mint, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower but not with beans
- Carrots – Plant with onions, chives, lettuce, leeks, shallots, rosemary, sage, and beans but not with dill, parsnip, tomatoes and radish
- Leeks – Plant with carrots but not with
- Basil -- Great to plant with tomatoes and peach trees as insect repellant.
- Mint-- On the other hand can attract insects away from desirable plants
- Lemon balm and Borge -- Should be planted to attract bees which increases pollination and so increases yields.
Some plants give off chemicals that suppress or repel pests protecting neighbor plants. Marigolds, calendula, releases a nematode repellent from their roots which permeates neighboring plants repelling many insects.
Suppress Weeds or Pests--- Black walnut trees and wormwood both release chemicals that suppress the growth of a wide range of plants. Wormwood tea will repel slugs and aphids but will not harm most vegetables such as tomatoes, broccoli.
Crop rotation is also important. Most vegetables are “heavy feeders” that require fertile soil rich in phosphate, nitrogen, calcium and other nutrients. Others are “light feeders” like carrots, turnips, radishes, and beets. which like, low nitrogen. Lastly there are “heavy givers” like legumes which add nitrogenRotating these crops allows the soil to the soil. Crop rotation over time gives soil a chance to rejuvenate itself between nutrient depletion.
Prepare soil for heavy feeders, with green manure crops like clover, alfalfa and by compost, manure and potash from things like ashes and bone meal for calcium and phosphorus. After “heavy feeder” rotate to “light feeder” crops the plant legumes the next year.
Rotating crops within your garden lets soil rest and be replenished naturally and helps to curb pest and disease naturally.
For more information and help with knowing what to plant and where stop at the garden center.
