Green Gardening Tips - The Top 10 Fruit & Vegetable Companion Plants By Liz Anderson

Organic Help for Green Gardeners

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to grow your own vegetables & fruit without having to worry about pests? If you have ever taken a morning stroll through your vegetable patch, only to find it decimated by slugs, snails, caterpillars or the like, you will undoubtedly agree. For some, the answer lies in pesticides and chemicals but for greener gardeners, this is not an option. Chemicals kill good insects as well as bad ones and sometimes the birds or animals that feed on them. So what is the answer for those trying to be more environmentally friendly? One method worth trying is companion planting.

Strictly speaking, companion planting is about more than just pest control. The idea is to set up communities of plants that help each other either by adding nutrients to the soil, providing support or shade, or attracting or repelling pests & insects. This last effect is the one that is most important for our purposes.

Companion plants can save the day by:

* masking the scent of other plants to which pests are attracted
* camouflaging plants that pests search for by sight
* attracting predatory insects to prey on pests
* acting as sacrificial plants to be eaten by pests in preference to the main crops

For the best chance of success, your companions need to be planted at the same time as your crops. That way they can be effective from day one. So here are 10 of the top plant combinations for healthy, pest free produce:

1. MARIGOLDS: probably the most generally useful of all the plant deterrents. African marigolds produce a substance called thiopene which repels nematodes. This is particularly good for protecting root crops & aubergines. Plant French marigolds liberally around your plot & amongst your vegetables, to repel aphids, white fly, carrot root fly & tomato worms. The strong smell of the flowers is believed to confuse pests and mask the smell of the surrounding crops. They are also considered delicious by slugs which will eat them in preference to your plants. Marigolds also attract predatory insects such as hoverflies which will eat aphids & other pests.
2. NASTURTIUMS: great for attracting black fly away from beans & caterpillars away from brassicas. They are not just sacrificial plants though & can repel aphids. Grow them for their looks & their flowers (delicious in salads!) too.
3. ALLIUMS: these are plants such as garlic, onion, leek, shallots, chives etc. It has been suggested that these plants can help to deter slugs as well as aphids & weevils. Certainly worth a try, although be careful about planting them near to beans & peas (legumes) as the antibacterial action of allium roots can adversely affect the bacteria in the root nodules of leguminous plants. Alliums inter planted with carrots can be very effective in deterring carrot fly & onion fly as both pests are put off by the scent of the other plant.
4. MINT: like the alliums, all types of mint can help to repel slugs. It is also a deterrent to ants, rodents, fleas & aphids and attracts hoverflies & predatory wasps.
5. BORAGE: attracts beneficial insects like bees & wasps and repels tomato & cabbage worms, so good for your tomatoes & brassicas. It is believed to improve the health of many other plants and their resistance to disease. Apparently improves the flavour & yield of strawberries when the two are grown together.
6. LOVAGE: attracts predatory wasps & beneficial ground beetles. Like borage, it is also thought to improve the health of almost all other plants around it, although it should not be planted near to rhubarb.
7. GERANIUMS: can be used as sacrificial plants to lure pests away from other crops. They are particularly effective for keeping leafhoppers away from tomatoes, peppers, & aubergines. They can also be beneficial in keeping pests away from roses & grapes.
8. SAGE: good for repelling bean pests and cabbage flies while attracting honey bees. Plant with cabbage beans & carrots for best effect.
9. YARROW: is supposed to increase the essential oil production of some herbs, a trait it shares with chamomile & anise. It can also be used in compost or as a mulch to improve soil quality.
10. OREGANO: repels aphids & provides good ground cover to protect other seedlings. Like marjoram and basil, it also helps to raise humidity levels for plants such as peppers.

These are just a few of the many beneficial plant partnerships available to green gardeners. For more information on companion planting and other green gardening ideas CLICK HERE