The garden is more than just a pot full of plants, putting hope that they will grow. Successful gardening often takes on a strategy called companion planting that allows you to tap into the energy of good plant combinations to allow for maximum health, growth, and productivity in your garden. By knowing which plants grow best together, you can have a thriving ecosystem right in your backyard.
Learn what some of the best companion plants are for various popular garden veggies and herbs in this article. From combining plants that grow better together to some great tips on essential companion gardening, you'll learn how to get your space working for you, not against you. Ready to grow a healthier garden? Let's dig in!
Companion planting is just as simple as growing the right plant combinations and as easy as allowing different plant species to grow close to each other for mutually beneficial relationships. From controlling pests to improving soil nutrients and even promoting faster growth in healthier conditions, companion planting has been known to have several benefits. Although it sounds complex, companion planting is very easy to adopt once one learns a few principles.
There are vital reasons to try companion planting:
Once we get a feel for the basics, let's look at some of the best companion pairings to try.
Perhaps no one example of companion pairing is more classic than tomatoes and basil. Not only does basil repel pests such as aphids, mosquitoes, and tomato hornworms, but it is also said to enhance the flavor of tomatoes. This powerful pair thrives when grown together, leading to a healthy and flavorful harvest.
Planting Tip: Plant Basil Plants. These should be planted around your tomatoes with enough space separating the basil plants, 12 inches apart, so both will get the needed space to thrive.
Nasturtiums are gorgeous edible flowers, and they make a great companion for cucumbers. They attract friendly insects that feed on aphid and cucumber beetles. Their bright colors can also add great beauty to your garden.
Planting Tip: Give the nasturtium the task of covering your entire cucumber bed for organic pest control and a burst of color.
Carrots and onions blend harmoniously well because both emit different smells. The smell of onions keeps flying insects that destroy carrots like carrot flies at bay, and the carrots loosen the soil to make way for the onions to grow better. This combination will surely give you a healthy and pest-free harvest.
Planting Tip: Plant carrots in rows that alternate with onions to take full advantage of this combination.
Lettuce and radishes are two good growing companions that do not compete for space or other resources. In this combination, radishes make soil loosening easy for the roots of the lettuce crop. Radishes also serve as repellents to some damaging insects of lettuce.
Planting Tip: Lettuce and radishes can be sown side by side. There should not be a competition for space.
"Three Sisters," beans, corn, and squash, is one of the oldest companion planting techniques. They were reported to be planted together. The nitrogen produced by beans helped the nitrogen-hungry corn, while the climbing beans benefited from being up against the corn, where they received the sunshade of the leafy corn greenery.
Planting Tip: Plant beans at the base of corn stalks and leave enough space for both to spread.
Strawberries and spinach can be a nice pair for ground covers. The spinach grows on the ground to suppress weeds from competing with your strawberry plants. On the other hand, strawberries will offer shade naturally to keep your spinach from intense sun.
Planting Tip: Plant alternating rows of spinach and strawberries to make the most use of the available space on the ground.
Companion gardening's most popular flowers for using their pest-repelling powers are marigolds but paired with peppers; they are virtually unstoppable. They repel aphids, thrips, and even nematodes away from your pepper plants, which means common pests have little chance of infesting them.
Planting Tip: Plant marigolds around the edges of your pepper plants in order to make a natural, colorful border.
Dill will attract beneficial insects like ladybugs and hoverflies that feed on pests to your zucchini. Hence, it is a great companion for zucchini. It works well as it keeps away the common pests of zucchini.
Planting Tip: Plant dill beside zucchini, but do not let dill overpower the zucchini, which needs full sun.
The aromatic rosemary repels cabbage moths, among other pests that may attack cabbages. This combination ensures the growth of healthy cabbages that are not destroyed by pests.
Planting Tip: Plant rosemary around cabbages as a fragrant and effective pest barrier.
This is an unusual combination, but garlic is a good repellent for aphids, which are common pests for roses. You can keep your flowers from getting pests by planting garlic around your rose bushes.
Planting Tip: Plant garlic bulbs around rose bushes with a spacing of a few inches.
Potatoes and horseradish combine to create a symbiotic relationship in the garden. For example, horseradish can help to deter potato beetles, which otherwise would attack your potato plants.
Planting Tip: Plant horseradish at the ends of your potato bed to keep pests away.
It also contains such an overpowering aroma of garlic that bugs won't be able to eat your beets. Don't forget these two friends: aphids and spider mites. Beets are so slender; they don't take up much space, making them a great companion plant to plant with garlic.
Planting Tip: Plant garlic bulbs in with the beets, giving each one plenty of room to grow.
Peas fix nitrogen, which is beneficial for a nutrient-hungry crop like spinach. The two crops also complement each other spatially since peas grow vertically, while spinach stays close to the ground.
Planting Tip: Plant peas at the edges of your spinach bed to share soil space and resources with the spinach plants inside the bed.
Eggplant and beans perform well together in a garden. Bean plants are nitrogen-fixing, so they help to produce healthy and bushy eggplants. On top of that, bean plants grow upright, which does not take up much space and won't compete with eggplants.
Planting Tip: Plant beans around your eggplant to enjoy this nutrient-resilient, symbiotic plantation.
Celery and leeks are natural companions because they grow close to each other without competing over nutrients. They also repel pests that would have otherwise competed with one another, thereby resulting in a healthier garden bed.
Planting Tip: Plant the celery and leeks close together in rows while making sure there is sufficient moisture in the soil to allow the two healthy plants to thrive.
To most benefit these inter-plants combinations, here are a few Key Companion Gardening Tips:
Companion planting is a simple yet effective way to bring health, productivity, and sustainability to your garden. Knowing how plants can support each other will help you design a balanced and harmonious garden that thrives throughout the seasons. From tomatoes and basil to beans and corn, many of these beneficial plant pairs can make all the difference for you in your gardening activities.
Use companion planting for a vibrant, productive garden - lush and vibrant with life!
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