Category: companion planting

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Herbs and Edible Plants in TheGardenLady’s Garden

Dill by eye of einstein

TheGardenLady walks around checking her garden daily to see what is coming up. Though mostly this is a flower garden, I do have herbs and a few edible plants growing among the flowers and I want to see if there are spots where more vegetables can be squeezed in.

Coming up all over my flower beds is my favorite herb, dill. I didn’t plant it. It arrived a number of years ago, I assume, in some other plant I bought. Lucky for me. And I’m so happy it is spreading all over. I love the feathery leaves of the dill plant, I think it adds a nice dimension to the flower bed. A neighbor also loved the look and asked me what was that “exotic” plant I had growing. Imagine her surprise.

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Good Companian Plants to Deter Bean Beetles

Nasty beetles eating everything. by Jason Riedy

A reader asked which plants would be good companion plants to grow with her beans to deter bean beetles.

TheGardenLady would plant a variety of plants that deter bean beetles, if you have the room in your garden. Then you can hope that at least one will work.

Sage is a good companion plant for beans and it also has insect-repelling properties, especially against beetles. Sage is a strong aromatic–it may be this that repels some insects.

Plant rosemary where you will put your beans next season as this is also an effective beetle deterrent. Summer savory repels beetles, I am not sure which kinds, and encourages good growth and good flavor.

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Companion Planting or Underplanting

companion planting at Heligan, Cornwall by RoseBridger

As the snow sits on the lawn, TheGardenLady is sure that her readers are dreaming of the day the bulbs start pushing up their leaves.  This is a sure sign that the flowers will soon open signaling spring. This spring I am looking forward to hyacinths and tulips and other bulbs, because last fall I planted so many more bulbs.

One of the concerns when planting bulbs is the leaves after the flowers have died. We now know that it is important to NEVER cut the leaves after flowering so that the bulb will get the nutrition needed for next year’s flowering. And we now know that we should not tie the leaves in a bundle- a method that was used to make the leaves more controlled looking after bloom time. So what should one do with the unsightly leaves until they completely die back later in the season?

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Companion Planting for your Garden

Photo of Marigolds planted next to Cucumber plants by Ellen Sousa at Turkey Hill Brook Farm

When planning your garden this year, consider companion planting.  What does it mean to do companion planting? Companion plants are the plants you should grow next to plants that you want in your garden. These companions assist because they have natural substances in their roots, flowers, leaves, etc. that can either repel and/or attract insects. The companions can also provide nutrients to the soil to help enhance the growth rate and flavor of the plants they are near. Companion planting has been used since the 14th century in small gardens as a way of helping to get rid of pests. Then in the 1970s organic gardeners started using companion planting to raise their plants without commercial pesticides. Companion planting is now included as one tactic in what is called Integrated Pest Management.

Why is Integrated Pest management also referred to as IPM? IPM is using a variety of methods that are benign and safe to get rid of plant pests. Companion planting is not the final solution to gardening problems; it is just one means of safe, benign pest elimination. So add it to your arsenal instead of just using synthetic pesticides, insecticides, or weedicides that can be dangerous to the user as well as the environment.

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