Companion Planting and Your Vegetable Garden
You must have noticed that how some plants do better when they are in the company of others. This is the base of companion planting i.e. planting different garden plant species next to each other so that both the plants benefit from each other. With this intensive gardening method you can plant a variety of vegetables snugly in a small space. You can take help of this kind of gardening method to boost yields of your garden by planting certain species of plants together such as vegetables, herbs and flowers. Here are some useful tips you should follow for your vegetable garden:
- Always try to use sun loving plants to shade cool season crops.
- Grow outdoor garden plants with deep and shallow roots together so that each vegetable group can draw moisture and essential nutrients from soil at different levels.
- Try to avoid shallow rooted plants such as lettuce, arugula and onions because they usually do not compete for nutrients when planted among deep rooted carrots.
- You need to mix plants that insects love with plants they hate and encourage insects eating microbes such as lady beetles and hover flies to maintain your garden properly.
Before you opt for companion planting, you need to gather some knowledge related to the plants that will help to increase plant performance and attract beneficial insects by resisting harmful ones. Here is the list of some primary vegetables and their companions.
Beans: Corn, lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumber, strawberry, celery, carrots, cauliflower.
Cabbage: Onion.
Carrot: Peas, lettuce and chives.
Cauliflower: Onions and bean.
Cucumber: Lettuce, beans, potato, onion.
Onion: Lettuce, cabbage and carrots.
Potato: Tomato, cucumber, sunflower, green beans, peas, and broad beans.
Tomato: Asparagus, pepper and basil.
Indoor or outdoor gardening with a focus on companion planting can create a more natural and vigorous habitat where plant and animal will be able to coexist in harmony.
Filed Under: Gardening
