Successful Pairings
I've been working a fair bit with companion planting, and thought I'd share what's been successful (so far), and then you can tell me what's worked for you, so next year I can try them out!
1. Garlic/Onions and roses. Title of a book for good reason. The roses sharing space with the garlic bed and the onion bed are blooming like mad and not too bothered by bugs.
2. Spinach and nasturtiums. The spinach looked like it would take over the entire garden. So we ate it. Yum!
3. Potatoes and marigolds.
4. I trained peas up an old step ladder in the garden and planted zucchini under it. Everyone's happy, including the one scarlet runner bean that snuck in.
5. Turnips, carrots and leeks. I put the leeks in two outside rows, with two alternating rows of turnips and carrots in the middle. Sure is pretty.
6. I mixed spinach, lettuce, bok choy, and radishes together. When the radishes were done, I started cutting the tops off the greens for salad. It just keeps on coming!
7. The growing beans are shading the lettuce from much of the heat of the sun. And it's pretty.
Now, does anyone have any ideas for cucumbers??
1. Garlic/Onions and roses. Title of a book for good reason. The roses sharing space with the garlic bed and the onion bed are blooming like mad and not too bothered by bugs.
2. Spinach and nasturtiums. The spinach looked like it would take over the entire garden. So we ate it. Yum!
3. Potatoes and marigolds.
4. I trained peas up an old step ladder in the garden and planted zucchini under it. Everyone's happy, including the one scarlet runner bean that snuck in.
5. Turnips, carrots and leeks. I put the leeks in two outside rows, with two alternating rows of turnips and carrots in the middle. Sure is pretty.
6. I mixed spinach, lettuce, bok choy, and radishes together. When the radishes were done, I started cutting the tops off the greens for salad. It just keeps on coming!
7. The growing beans are shading the lettuce from much of the heat of the sun. And it's pretty.
Now, does anyone have any ideas for cucumbers??
Comment
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Comment by Erica on August 30, 2009 at 1:13pm -
Hmm...I could maybe try that. I do have a lot of wild daisies that border it now, but I could squeeze them in. It's robust but the beetles attack the flowers, so although the plant is big and leafy I don't get any blooms:( Ron hacked it down last spring and that really helped revitalize it. But, I noticed a lot of the beetles moved over to other to my other blooms (peony etc...).
Thanks for the congrats too! I don't think I have much time to spend these days in the garden. Although, when Jonah goes back to school I hope to clean up my gardens a bit.
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Comment by Jessica on August 30, 2009 at 9:35am - Hi, Erica (and congratulations!). Do you have room to put garlic in as a border? Although, if your roses are so robust, they might be able to deal with the bugs. I have heard of using a garlic infusion as a spray to deter insects.
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Comment by Jessica on August 30, 2009 at 9:33am
- My roses are in the herb garden, which is a formal 4-square layout with stone paths dividing the squares. In each square, I put four perennial herbs in a diamond pattern, then I edged the beds with the rose bushes I rescued when I dug out the vegetable garden last spring, and then finished the edging with parsley, cilantro, carrots and swiss chard (and one baby Douglas Fir I forgot about -- must move that!). So, I don't know about ugly, but it sure is a dog's breakfast out there. Interestingly, I did put in a more traditional rose bed by the house, and those plants have been decimated by..... something. There's not a leaf left. Who wants breakfast?
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Comment by Erica on August 29, 2009 at 9:32pm
- Cool thanks for the tips. I have rose chafer beetles...I might give the garlic and onions a try. The only problem is our rose bushes are so large and wild. I don't know where I'd find room for the other plants.
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Comment by Julie D. Taber on August 28, 2009 at 11:11am - I have asparagus beans mixed in with morning glories and zinnias. No beetles on anything, but fire ants are on the beans blooms, but don't cause a problem unless they bite you.
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Comment by Carolyn Van Haren on August 28, 2009 at 9:23am - doesn't the rose bed look ugly with the onions and garlic amongst it though?
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Comment by Jessica on August 9, 2009 at 8:53pm
- Ok, here's another one. I have scarlet runner beans and morning glories sharing an old step ladder in the garden. The Japanese beetles are all over the morning glory, but not the beans. Yay Yay Yay!
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