The practice of growing different plants together is known as ‘Companion Planting’. Growing such plants in the same garden not only improves the appearance of your garden but also serves a variety of useful purposes.
You can, for example, maximize garden space, attract beneficial insects and pollinators, divert insect pests away from other food crops, provide shade or a wind barrier to other plants, cover the soil surface with edible plants to crowd out weeds, or even help boost the growth, flavor, or yields of food crops.
So, in today's article, we'd like to share 11 plant pairs that grow well together that you should be aware of. Examine them out right now!
1. Melons or Squash + Flowering Herbs
These are all vegetables that require pollinators to produce, so invite insect visitors into your garden by planting flowering herbs near melons and squash, such as dill, fennel, and parsley.
2. Nasturtium + Cucumber
Growing cucumbers up a trellis and allowing nasturtiums, which have a distinct scent that appears to repel pests, to grow in a colorful tumble beneath.
3. Sweet Alyssum + Swiss Chard
Alyssum is an annual that grows easily from seed in between vegetable rows. It attracts a lot of hoverflies, which are beneficial insects that eat aphids. Intersperse pretty Swiss chard as a border with these delicate low-growing flowers.
4. Corn + Pole Beans + Squash or Pumpkin
Corn provides a place for the beans to climb. Beans convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by plants. The spreading leaves of squash or pumpkin form a living mulch that inhibits weed growth and retains moisture.
5. Calendula + Broccoli
These flowers emit a sticky substance from their stems that attracts and traps aphids. It keeps aphids away from her brassica crops, specifically broccoli, by being planted next to them. It also attracts beneficial ladybugs, which feed on aphids.
6. Lettuce + Tomatoes or Eggplants
Tomatoes and eggplant grow tall and can eventually shade out cool-season crops like lettuce, which dislikes heat. This trick may allow you to extend the season of your lettuce slightly.
7. Radishes + Carrots
Because these two plants absorb nutrients from different parts of the soil, they are not competing for resources. Radishes mature quickly and do not grow as deeply as carrots, which have a longer taproot and mature over a longer period of time.
