Plants You Should Always Grow Side-by-Side - Companion Gardening

They care for us. They surround us with an invisible blanket of purified air. They make the greatest source of natural medicine. They bless us with different Fenshui/Vaastu properties like money plant bless us with good luck and prosperity. They are in short no less than a miracle themselves. They are plants. There’s no denying the fact that plants are our best companion because no matter how many human friends of ours leave midway, they won’t ever turn their back on us. They keep bestowing us with their blissful innate properties without expecting anything much at all in return. But like us, they too need their green friends around them to grow and to root for each other, which is why time and now there has been a constant emphasis on companion planting. As the name suggests, companion gardening would mean that all plants can be planted together, next to each other for optimum growth and potential results; but which all ones shouldn’t be planted together? It requires quite a lot of manual labour, good soil, sunlight, nutrients and other such requirements to be fulfilled in order to have a beautiful garden of one’s own. But as per some old gardening words of wisdom it has been said that some plants, when grown together with some other, tend to support each other’s growth and well-being.

Eventually, which ends up improving their health and yields. In many parts of the world, vegetables are grown by undertaking vegetable companion planting. If you are planning to curate a kitchen garden of your own, but you are pretty much clueless about which plants can be grown next to each other, then here’s your guide to companion plants.

Compatible Vegetable Plants For Companion Planting

● You can grow sage herb plants scattered along with cabbage plants so that cabbage moths are at bay from our produce.
● Plant dill herb and basil (tulsi) plant alongside our tomato plants to protect them from the harmful tomato hornworms.
● The strong, pungent smell of Marigold plant even acts as a great repellent against any garden plant which often gets attacked with nematodes in their vegetable roots. For e.g - tomato plant.
● The cheerful, vibrant annual Nasturtiums plant sets a perfect trap to lure a flock of devastating insects as they are favoured by aphids. It makes a great trap plant.
● Plants like Carrots, dill, parsley, and parsnip attract beneficial insects like praying mantises, ladybugs, and spiders to dine on insect pests.
● Lettuce, radishes, and other quick-growing plants are grown in between the hills of melons or winter squash so that they mature well on time and be harvested way before the vines start taking up additional legroom.
● Plants like spinach and Swiss chard which are green and leafy can be grown alongside corn plants.
● Also, bush beans can do very well under the shadow of the corn plants since their roots attain different levels in the soil and also don’t compete for water or nutrients.
● Plants like asparagus, bean, cabbage, carrot, celery, corn, lettuce, pea, pepper, potato, and tomato can even be grown alongside tancy plants which tend to keep cutworms at bay.
● To keep cabbage moth at bay, you can opt for growing plants like Catnip, hyssop, rosemary, and sage to keep your edible crop plants safe and sound.
● Cabbage moths and ants are said to be ward off if some plant is planted alongside the mint plant.
● Even thyme herb plant is said to ward off cabbageworm from any of the green, leafy plants.
● Want to deter codling moths from your apple havocs? Then, go with planting lavender plants.
● When Zinnias are planted alongside cauliflower plants, it attracts ladybugs which help to curb the pest population.

Some Other Companion Plantings

● Some plants and woodlands are even great buddies. For e.g - Blueberries, mountain laurel, azaleas, and other such ericaceous plants love to grow in acidic soils created by pines and oak trees.
● Some of the shade-loving plants are provided sheltered sunlight by a wooded grove. These shade-loving plants in return help the forest from saving the soil from getting eroded with the help of its thick tangle of shallow roots.
● Some trees and legumes have a fantastic bonding with friendly bacterias which tends to make the soil even more fertile, thereby enriching the soil, which helps in the growth of the other plants in it.