Companion Planting – Your Garden’s Mutual Defence Against Pests
July 9th, 2009
Filed in Garden Pests and Diseases
Tags: beneficial insects, companion planting, cover cropping, organic pest control
You may have heard the phrase companion planting thrown around a bit here and there in your journey in organic gardening. Like burying beer to deter slugs, crop rotation, good garden hygiene, and proper feeding of the soil; companion planting is yet another tool that is available to make the life of the organic gardener a bit easier.
And, just as many of these aforementioned tools fail from time to time, companion planting is not a guarantee that you will have no problems in your garden. However, when used wisely in concert with your other practices, it can be a very effective tool indeed.
Just What is Companion Planting?
It is the practice of planting one crop with another for the mutual benefit of one or both of the crops. For example, it is often recommended that radishes be interplanted with carrots. The reasoning is that radishes are a very quick maturing plant, while carrots require a much longer time to germinate and mature. While the radishes are in the soil close to the carrots, the roots keep the soil loose, and fix important nutrients in the soil that the carrots will later use.
In 25 days, you will be able to pull your beautiful radishes, while your carrots are just beginning to push their way up through the soil and begin their life cycle in full swing. Pulling the radishes does not disturb the carrots, and you have again wisely used space in your garden.
Research Your Most Common Garden Issues
It is vitally important to know your garden intimately, as there are an infinite number of ways that companion planting can be used in your garden.
- To control infestation of crop damaging pests such as beetles, nematodes, and various larvae.
- To attract beneficial insects to your garden in order to further control pests.
- To deter rodents and deer along with domesticated animals such as cats and dogs.
- For one crop to provide protection to another more vulnerable plant.
- To aid each other in the growth of the plant and the health of the soil.
- To lure damaging insects to an area of the garden where they will not damage your crop.
There are so many ideas about what companion planting methods to use, that it is impossible to do it all. Identify your most likely or urgent needs, and use companion planting accordingly. An excellent guide is a series of books by Louise Riotte, such as Carrots Love Tomatoes
If you garden in town, you might need not worry about deer, or other rodents, but may have a real problem with certain insect problems. Plant accordingly.
Examples of Common Companion Planting Recommendations
In addition to planting in order to attract or distract animals and pests from your garden, it is effective to carefully plan your garden in order to utilize the space that you have most efficiently. This means growing low growing, shade loving plants like lettuce in between rows of tomato plants, or to tuck some onions in any space available.
Cover cropping is also a type of companion planting. What this means is that if you leave one of your beds to rest and cover crop with a leguminous variety, there will be useable nitrogen in the soil for your plants next spring. This crop can be tilled under and will feed your vegetables without adding any other fertilizers.
Sometimes planning your garden to ensure that other plants will be protected from strong winds and other weather anomalies. Brussel sprouts are particularly susceptible to being toppled and broken during the end of their life cycle due to their top heaviness. Planting in front of a row of corn can provide protection from this problem.
There are literally hundreds of ways that companion planting can be used in your garden. And for each recommended companion, you will inevitably have a neighbor who will scoff and explain that those particular plants never grow well together.
Research companion planting, and evaluate your most important crops. Try one of the recommendations that you find, see if it works, and if you find that it does not, try something different the next time. Do not forget to journal your successes with companion planting in your garden. It will provide you with easy reference for what worked and what did not the season before.
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