Companion Planting

The concept of companion planting is to plant different types of plants in a garden with hope that these plants can repel insects and disease-carrying pests or enhance the fruit production or flowering capacity.

Of course, it involves more than just choosing which type of plant should be planted next to another type of plant.

Selecting the best plants is more than pointing this and that because of its aesthetics.

It requires knowledge of the plant’s properties. Some plants are equipped with natural substances in their flowers, roots, and leaves that repel or attract certain insects, relative to the gardener’s needs.

In other instances, these plants can help ameliorate the growth rate and flavor of other plant varieties.

Gardeners and horticulturists found out that using companion plants in a landscape is a significant component of integrated pest control. Some of the plants ideal for are herbs.

Herbs bring a balance in the eco-system of the landscape, encouraging the nature to fulfill its function.

Herbs and vegetables can be grown around the ornamental plants.

• For example, the clumps of oregano can ward off the white butterfly on cabbage. The strong odor of tansy drives away the flies, aphids and ant.

• Even the peppermint can fend off ants and white cabbage moth.

• Other pest-repelling herbs that can be used include the basil, coriander, turnip, mint, parsley, marjoram, and thyme.

• If there are Japanese beetle, fleas and aphids in the garden, planting accompanying scallions, garlic and onion can be very effective, particularly if there are Cole crops and carrots planted nearby.

This gardening method is considered a holistic approach to gardening.

It does not require the need to use chemical-based pesticides, which are really harmful to the plants, their produce, to the environment, and to human beings.

In some situations, planting different varieties of plants based on their distinct properties can increase the crop yields.

One type of companion planting is called the Nurse cropping. It is a method of gardening in which tall or dense-canopied plants may serve as a protection for more vulnerable plants by providing a windbreak or shading.

• As an example, the oats are known to assist in establishing the alfalfa and other forages.

It does this by supplanting the more competitive weeds that would have otherwise grown in their place. To put it simply, nurse cropping is a physical-spatial interaction.

The beneficial habitat or refugia is another type of companion planting.

It has received a lot of attention lately because among its benefits is supplementing an environment conducive to planting: abundant in beneficial insects and arthropods that help control pest population.

Whichever type of planting is employed, one thing is certain—and that is, it brings a lot of benefits to the garden.

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