Grand Companions
© Linda Mazar
We all have favorite friends we like to be with who bring out the best in us. They help us grow to our full potential. They care for us, make us happy, listen to our sorrows, offer advice, etc. Just being around them makes us better people.The same can be true with plants. Some plants just do better when they are around good companions (plants that are helpful to them). In the books Carrots Love Tomatoes and Roses Love Garlic by Louise Riotte, the author sites many instances of good and bad plant combinations and why they work or don't work. Together these books are useful references on companion planting. So as you plant your garden, consider putting plants that like each other together!
Riotte asserts that instead of planting monocultures (all the same plant in one area) in our gardens, we would have healthier gardens with fewer pest problems if we planted combinations of plants closely together (as in nature). Together "they become a source of needed shade, a climbing support, or a provider of mulch and soil-conditioning food."
Native Americans understood this from early times. They may have been the first to recognize that corn, beans, and squash made good growing companions. These plants all like the same growing conditions and can share space amicably. The beans make nitrogen for the soil. The corn uses the nitrogen to grow (corn is a heavy nitrogen user). The bean vines use the corn stalks to climb. The squash covered the ground with its big leaves (conserving water like mulch) and grew in between and around the other plants. The plants complemented each other by providing what the others needed. Being together was a benefit to all.
Some plants perform benefical servies and many others can take advantage of. Carrots (and other taproot plants) break up the soil. Beans and other legumes feed the soil with nitrogen, which benefits many plants. Alliums, onions, and garlic protect roses from black spot and mildew. These also repel moles and cabbage butterflies. Tomatoes can keep asparagus beetles away. Dusty Miller repels rabbits and other animals. Marigolds will also discourage rabbits and control Nematodes in the soil.
The list goes on and on! The best way to get more information is to either buy the books or check them out from your local library. There is so much information that Louise Riotte shares with her readers, much more than I can even touch on here. Have fun learning about good companion plants! I hope they will help you out in your garden!
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