Companion Planting to manage your garden

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Tomato Yellow Peach

This year I tried the "Heritage" tomatoes offered as plants. Not all the plants supplied survived and grew but of those that did one cultivar, Yellow Peach, seemed to me to be outstanding.

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Companion Planting is a way of managing your garden by using plants in a complementary way. It is based on the principle that by planting certain plants close together you can use their natural properties to help with pest control and boost growth. Plants are not naturally kind to each other and any good they do to another plant is coincidental.

The concept of Companion Planting is not new and is reported in early Greek and Roman writings but with the development of the organic movement and increasing EU regulation withdrawing many pesticides and nutrient products from the marketplace, gardeners and farmers are looking at other ways of controlling pests and diseases and boosting growth.

Companion Planting is considered an eco-friendly approach to gardening. Much of the information is handed down and not supported by scientific assessment. The guidelines are based on traditional methods, which seem to work and are therefore worth trying.

Plants can help each other in different ways

Providing shelter from the wind
Hedges can curb the worst excesses of the weather and reduce wind speed.
Providing shelter from the sun
Leafy ground cover under certain plants such as clematis keeps roots cool and moist which are ideal growing conditions.
Root secretions from one plant can help another e.g. other plants can use nitrogen from legumes roots.
Improving the soil
Plants use leaves they are about to shed as a dumping grounds for unwanted minerals which then feeds the microlife and thus future crops. Green manure, dug in, improves tilth and binds soil particles together.
Competing with each other
Plants may compete with and or directly harm others e.g. Tagetes can smother bindweed.
Repelling harmful insects / attracting them away from otherplants
Planting carrots and onions together to confuse their respective flies.
By supporting insect populations
Plants increase the number of pollinators, predators and parasites which, in themselves, have tasks to perform. Many plants attract bees and butterflies.
Repelling other and larger pests
Plants with thorns and prickles can deter human invaders as well as unwelcome animals. Some plants exude smells repulsive to animals - Elder is said to discourage mice, rabbits and supposed to dislike Onions and root excretions from Euphorbias are considered a possibility as a mole deterrent.
Attracting birds and other creatures
Plants may attract birds and other creatures which prey on pests and are generally beneficial. Birds can be encouraged with plants offering perches, shelter and food from fruits and berries. Dense plantings shelter and attract hedgehogs, frogs and toads who eat pests.

Companion Planting is basically about choosing plants that have additional properties and functions beyond simply being ornamental or a food supply and using them in combination with one another. As gardeners, we can be perfect hosts, where possible giving each plant the right type of soil, shelter, aspect and treatment to help it grow and achieve its purpose.

Helpful Plant Companions
Roses/Chives	Help overcome black spot and increase rose perfume
Roses/Garlic	Is a deterrent for aphids
Tomatoes/French Marigolds	Repel greenfly and blackfly because their scent is offensive to insects
Broccoli/Nasturtiums Squash/	Keep aphids away with their strong smell
Apple trees/Nasturtiums	Deter woolly aphids
Carrots/Leeks	Leeks repel carrot fly. Carrots repel onion fly and leak moth
Chervil	Keeps aphids off lettuces and aids radishes
Coriander	Repels aphids and can be made into a spray to repel red spider mite
Sage	Benefits brassicas and carrots because its smell confuses pests
Peas, Beans, Sweet peas and Lupins	Are known for their ability to fix nitrogen - they convert nitrogen, by way of bacteria that live in the roots, into a form that can be used easily by plants. By leaving the root in the soil this nutrient is effectively re-cycled
Strawberries/Borage	Borage attracts bees, accumulates minerals for the compost heap and grows well with strawberries
Celery	Deters cabbage white caterpillars from brassicas
Foxgloves	Accumulate minerals to a high level in the leaves and are generally considered beneficial to all parts of the garden and stimulate the growth of plants

This article originally appeared in the Members Bulletin, the journal of the National Vegetable Society, which is sent quarterly to members. You can Join the National Vegetable Society here

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