All about companion planting

By planting particular plants together, they can sometimes assist each other. This is known as companion planting. Essentially, it’s all about pairing plants that enjoy the same conditions of soil, water and sun, and is one of the most sustainable ways to garden, where each plant acts as a natural pest deterrent and a nutrient provider to its buddy.

While companion planting is not a cure-all solution to all problems in the garden, having good neighbours to some plants is very quickly beneficial. Benefits include deterring pests, improving growth, enhancing flavour, attracting beneficial insects and fixing nitrogen.

Just as there are good neighbours, we also have bad neighbours. Some plants dislike each other and shouldn’t be planted in close quarters, with one of them winning and the other definitely losing.

DOES IT ACTUALLY WORK?

With limited actual scientific information and a lot of myths on companion planting, gardeners feel, does it actually work or is it too hit and miss? Companion planting works by creating and improving the biodiversity of your garden, bringing in a large variety of plant forms to aid not only the vegetable patch but native trees and shrubs.

With some clever planning, your garden could never be without some sort of blossom which supports an extensive array of creatures including birds, pollinating insects (bees, butterflies and native wasps), beetles and reptiles. By the encouragement of these good elements in your garden, they keep out or keep down the numbers of the baddies.

COME IN! COME IN!!

Attract beneficial insects by using the one-in-ten rule. For every ten edible plants that go in the ground, plant one flower plant, this has proven to work best. Try planting your lettuce crop with sweet-smelling alyssum, which attracts ladybugs and hoverflies, these make short work of any aphids.

Daisies bring in loads of beneficial insects due to their high volume of nectar and pollen. Lettuce, chicory and artichokes are also great for daisy-like flowers.

When planted under fruit trees and in vegetable gardens, long flowering catmint and rosemary also bring in much-needed pollinators.

GO AWAY! GO AWAY!!

Repellent plants in the garden not only repel bad insects they can discourage our four-legged friends from areas in the garden.

Marigolds can provide a natural pest deterrent as well as enhancing the growth of other plants. The French Marigold produces a chemical so strong it is an effective pesticide against root-knot nematodes for years after the plant is gone.

Wormwood (Artemisia sp.) is an excellent repellent of aphids on roses and animals in parts of your garden. It is also very helpful with fleas on chooks when added to nesting boxes and flies when planted around BBQ areas.

CONFUSION REIGNS, GETTING SNEAKY

Although they make a big impact on your garden, many pests aren’t terribly clever and are easily confused by some well-placed garden companions.

Strongly scented plants can mask the smell of a pest’s target. Lavender, society garlic or garlic chives can confuse aphids in an under-planting of roses.

Choose a companion plant to mask the shape and silhouette of a targeted plant by placing the companion plant to disguise its form, the pests can’t find them!

A “trap-crop” companion is using a decoy or sacrificial plant, highly sought after by certain pests. Cress is highly sought after by the White Cabbage Moth to lay her eggs and will choose that plant over your brassica (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprout) seedlings every time. However, little does the moth know that cress is fatal for the larvae so when they hatch and start eating it they will die almost instantly.

SOME SUGGESTIONS

• Asparagus is said to do well with apricot, chives, marjoram and tomatoes. Basil and parsley will enhance its flavours but garlic and onion will reduce its growth.
• Beans boost carrots, celery and just about anything in the cabbage family, also Brussel sprouts, lettuce, cucumber, peas, eggplant, potato, parsnip and parsley. Don’t plant next to chives, onion, garlic or beetroot.
• Carrots thrive next to beans, coriander, leeks, lettuce, chives, tomato, rosemary, sage, onions and marjoram. Avoid planting next to celery and dill as these emit substances reducing growth.
• Cucumber is best grown near chilli, peas, onion, parsnip, basil, cabbage, cauliflower, dill, carrots, radish, beans, celery and tomato but avoid planting next to sage.
• Lettuce enjoys growing with carrot, capsicum, marjoram, onion, beetroot, beans, radish, peas, cucumber and strawberries but not parsley or celery.
• Onions including the whole onion family from spring onions to leeks and shallots, plant with capsicum, beetroot, turnip, silverbeet, spinach, marjoram lettuce, dill squash, tomato, chilli, parsley and celery. Doesn’t like peas, beans, strawberries and sage.
• Tomato does well with basil, mint, parsley, silverbeet, asparagus, celery, chives, beans, garlic, marigolds, onions and carrot. They also have a number of dislikes in potato, capsicum, strawberries, rosemary, chilli, fennel, eggplant and dill.
• Zucchini loves being around radish, spinach, tomato, peas, capsicum, chives, lettuce, corn and chilli and only really has one enemy, the potato.

EVEN IN THE ORCHARD

• Acacias, clover and tagasaste release nitrogen into the soil thus providing a renewing source of nitrogen for the fruit trees at the same time as offering a windbreak from damaging wind.
• Plants from the Proteaceae family accumulate phosphorus in the soil to also nourish fruit trees.
• Being deep-rooted, Comfrey draws nutrients from deep in the soil therefore not competing with the fruit trees. Storing the nutrient in its leaves, cut and place under mulch around the tree for a nutrient boost.
• Plant edible camomile or nasturtiums under the trees to smother weeds competing for nutrients.