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Companion
Planting
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Companion Planting
The science of companion planting is simple: it provides you with a varied
and beautiful garden, and it allows your plants to help each other grow
healthier and deter pests.
There are several ways that companion planting helps to minimize the need for
chemical pesticides and fertilizers in your garden:
- Planting a plant that pests hate–such as marigolds–in
close proximity to those that pests love will prevent them from coming to
dinner where they aren’t invited.
- Similarly, planting insectary plants that draw
beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and damselflies, helps to populate your
garden with natural garden pest predators.
- Planting trap crops, such as nasturtiums, near
the crops you’d like to keep draws pests in to the trap crop so they avoid
the plants you’d like to keep around.
- Some plants function as natural trellises for others.
Planting corn among bean plants allows the beans to snake up the cornstalks.
Other plants shelter and protect more delicate plants from wind or harsh
direct sunlight.
- By implementing the “buddy system” for your garden,
you can minimize pests while maximizing the nutrients in your soil and the
“fruits” of all your hard work.
Vegetable
Companion Chart
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