Plants Have Friends Too!

April 18, 2012

While I was doing research for my new vegetable garden, I ran across several books on companion planting. I had heard of companion planting, but I didn’t know any details. So, I checked one out. It was full of very interesting information! For instance, I learned that marigolds deter many insect pests, and most vegetables don’t like fennel. Also, many plants have other plants that can harm or enhance their flavors. I had never realized that you couldn’t plant certain plants near each other.

I hope that by following some of the suggestions I found in these books, I can cut down on the number of insects plaguing my garden while also having more flavorful vegetables and larger yields. However, in order to utilize the companion planting techniques, you really need to sit down with a pencil and paper to sketch out your garden design (something I neglected to do). I’m finding that as I add plants and seeds to my garden, it is becoming difficult to arrange items so that they won’t interfere with each other.

I am using the book Secrets of Companion Planting: Plants that Help, Plants that Hurt by Brenda Little the most. It’s a small book, so it isn’t intimidating. The author also breaks down plant friends and foes into simple lists so that the information is easy to find when you need it. For a small book, it contains a lot of useful information.

-Heather C.
Lee’s Summit Branch