This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
When you start growing vegetables, you obviously have high hopes for a harvest. To help you succeed in this living project, you can count on the exceptional solidarity of certain plants that are beneficial to each other. Discover and integrate the principles of companion planting into your garden to enjoy nature at its best.
Based on the idea that some plants are friends and others are enemies, companion planting highlights the interactions between plants. If some bring benefits to others, why not take advantage of them? Above all, why not use this asset when planning your vegetable garden? Knowing, for example, that tomato plants effectively protect slower-growing crops such as lettuce or radishes from the sun, plan to place the latter at the base of the others before planting them.
There are many examples of companion planting, as several species can help each other. A plant that grows tall can therefore support a plant that is creeping or climbing. One can attract pollinators that are useful to its neighbor while another will keep away harmful insects. Also, don’t forget to space out plants that will provide shade, just like those in the same family that will drain the soil of the same nutrients. It is therefore better to separate potatoes and eggplant.
A few tips
• Protect your fragile vegetable plants from the heat by planting them between rows of taller ones. For example, tomatoes or corn will provide a sunscreen to cool your spinach and lettuce.
• Group plants that need more fertilizer together in one spot, since they have similar requirements and you can fertilize them more efficiently. Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and potatoes) and brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower) are more finicky than leafy greens.
• Avoid monocultures and instead grow your vegetables by cultivating several varieties. This is essential for a balanced and productive garden.
• Add strong-smelling herbs such as dill, fennel or coriander to your vegetable garden to hide your crops from predators.
• Plant “traps”. Some species, such as nasturtium, attract harmful insects. Simply cut off the stems infested with aphids and throw them away when you notice their presence on your plants. Your other vegetable plants will thus be protected from contamination.
• Don’t forget to include some annual flowers. These will attract the pollinating insects that are so important for your fruits and vegetables. As a bonus, they will also attract beneficial insects like ladybugs (they will take care of the pests)! Think marigolds, calendulas, cosmos, etc.
• Add legumes to your garden. They release nitrogen into the soil, a nutrient essential for plant growth. Fixative plants benefit all your other vegetables and could save you money on fertilizer!
Successful twinning
1. Dill + cucumber
Dill attracts pollinators, who love its yellow flowers, and repels unwanted insects. It is also known to protect cucumbers; they are such good companions that their seeds are sometimes sold together.
2. Basil + tomato
Here are two companions that love to be associated with the vegetable garden. They stimulate each other’s growth and have very similar nutritional needs. In addition, basil naturally fights diseases that threaten tomatoes, such as late blight.
3. Thyme + cabbage
Delicious and aromatic, thyme repels whiteflies and cabbage whiteflies. It is an ideal companion to protect the sensitive leaves of cabbage.
4. Carrot + onion
These two vegetables protect each other, one keeping the fly away from the other and vice versa. However, care must be taken when watering, as onions require much less water than carrots.
5. Asparagus + tomato
Tomato foliage gives off an odor that repels flies and asparagus beetles. A great job of protection.
6. Celery + spinach
Celery can provide partial shade for spinach, which prefers a little coolness and moisture. Spinach, on the other hand, can help protect celery from insect pests thanks to its natural insect repellent properties. The two really do go together!
7. Nasturtium + squash
An ally of the gardener, nasturtium goes well with many vegetables, including squash and pumpkins. It will keep worms away and stimulate the growth of your cucurbits.
8. Marigold + cabbage
Marigold flowers have repellent properties for certain insect pests, such as whiteflies, aphids and caterpillars, so they will help reduce damage to the leaves of your cabbages.
This content was produced by the Special Publications Team of Dutyrelevant to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part in it.