Advantages of Planting Vegetable Gardens

Is there a patch of land in your backyard that’s been left useless all this time? If you’re still undecided to what to make out of it, maybe it’s high time you consider planting vegetables in it. Read on to learn some of the advantages of planting vegetable gardens.

Read more: Advantages of Planting Vegetable Gardens

Building and Planting Vegetable Gardens

The structure of your vegetable garden does not only have to be functional but it can also look and feel good. Spruce up your garden by building some decorative arches and some tomato cages while helping it produce more crops. After all, there is more to planting vegetable gardens than just cultivating a spot of land.

Read more: Building and Planting Vegetable Gardens

Companion Planting: A Love Hate Relationship

Like people in relationships, specific crops love and hate each other, based on the specific natures involved. Seedlings of transplanting size begin to interact more and more together with the plants near them. These associations come to be especially necessary as adult plants cultivate explicit  personalities, essences, and aromas. Green beans and strawberries, for instance, thrive better when they are grown in combination than when they are grown independently. To get really wonderful-tasting Bibb lettuce, one spinach plant should be grown for everyfour Bibb lettuce plants.

Read more: Companion Planting: A Love Hate Relationship

Companion Plants: What Grows Well Together

There are some plants that do well together (companion plants) when they are planted next to each other and there are certain combinations of plants that slows the growth of one or both types of plants. Basically, certain plants love each other and certain plants hate each other.

Companion planting can be a complex and often overwhelming if you let it. But as you gain more experience and develop a feeling for gardening, companion planting will become clearer. Just be sure not to let too much planning spoil the fun and excitement of working in the garden!

This isn’t to say that you can’t grow these plants together in the same garden, just don’t grow them right next to each other. Below is a guide to help indentify what grows well together and what doesn't. The chart list the compatibility, both the good and the bad, of plants when planted next to each other.

Companion planting is a discipline in which further analysis needs to be carried out. There are a lot of unknowns and variables that must be considered. Such as, the age of the vegetables or herbs, the percent of each of the varieties of plants grown in combination, and how close together they are planted. It should be done with an inquisitive approach to see what actually works well together and what doesn't. Are the benfits or negative influences due to root excretions, plant aroma, or the pollen of composite flowers that attracts cetain beneficial insects? Further study on the causes of some of these beneficial relationships is recommended and can be found in the articles on this website. They are listed in the box on the right of this page for your convenience.

Planting techniques are for: health; nutrition; physical complementarity; and weed, insect, and animal relationships.

Companion Planting Chart for Vegetables

Plant (Vegetable)	Good Companions	Bad Companions
Asparagus	Tomatoes, parsley, basil
Beans	Potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, cauliflowe, cabbage, eggplant, summer savory, most other vegetablesand herbs	Onions, garlic, gladiolus, chives
Beans, bush	Potatoes, cucumbers, corn, strawberries, celery, summer savory	Onions
Beans, pole	Corn, summer savory, sunflower	Onions, beets, kohlrabi, cabbgae
Beets	Onions, Kohlrabi	Pole beans
Cabbage family (cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kolrabi, broccoli)	Aromatic plants, potatoes, celery, dill, hyssop, chamomile, sage, peppermint, rosemary, beets, onions	Stawberries, tomatoes, pole beans
Carrots	Peas, leaf lettuce, chives, onions, leeks, rosemary, sage, tomatoes	Dill
Celery	Leeks, tomatoes, bush beans, cauliflowe, cabbage
Chives	Carrots, tomatoes	Peas, beans
Corn	Potatoes, peas, beans, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, squash	Tomato
Cucumbers	Beans, corn, peas, radishes, sunflowers, lettuc	Potatoes, aromatice herbs
Eggplant	Beans, potatoes, spinach
Leeks	Onions, celery, carrots
Lettuce	Carrots and radishes (lettuce, carrots, and radishes make a strong team grown together), strawberries, cucumbers, onions
Melons	Corn, Nasturtium, Radish
Onions(garlic)	Beets, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, summer savory, leeks,chamomile (sparsely), pepper	Peas, beans
Parsley	Tomatoes, asparagus
Peas	Carrots, turnips, radishes, cucumbers, corn, beans, most vegetables and herbs	onions, garlic, gladilus, potatoes, chives
Potatoes	Beans, corn, cabbage, horseradish (should be planted at the corners of the patch), marigolds, eggplant (as a lure for the Coloradopotato beetle)	Pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, sunflowers, tomatoes, raspberries
Pepper	Onion
Pumplins	Corn	Potatoes
Radishes	Peas, nasturtiums, lettuce, melons, cucumbers	Hyssop
Soybeans	Grows with anything, helps everything
Spinach	Strawberries, eggplant
Squash	Nasturtiums, corn	Potatoes
Strawberries	Bush beans, spinach, borage, ettuce (as a border), onions	Cabbage
Sunflowers	Cucumbers	Potatoes
Tomatoes	Chives, onions, parsley, asparagus, marigolds, nasturtiums, carrots	Corn, Kohlrabi
Turnips	Peas

 

Oak tree: Concentrates calcium in its bark (bark ash is 77% calcium). In a special tea, it helps plants resist harmful diseases. The oak tree provides a beneficial influence around it that helps create excellent soil underneath its branches. This is a great place to build a compost pile for the same reason, but keep the pile at least 6 feet from the tree trunk so the environment near the tree will not be conducive to disease or attractive to harmful insects.

Continue on to the next page for a chart on mutually beneficial herbs, weeds, and flowers and their companions.

 

 

A list of herbs, their companions, and their uses, including some beneficial weeds and flowers can be found in the companion chart for herbs below.

Plant (Herb)
Basil	Companion to tomatoes; dislikes rue intensely; improves growth and flavor; epels flies and mosquitoes
Bee balm	Companion to tomatoes; improves growth and flavo.
Borage	Companion to tomatoes, squash, and strawberries; deters tomato worms; improves growth and flavo.
Caraway	Plant here and there; loosens soil.
Catnip	Plant in borders; deters flea beetles.
Chamomile	Companion to cabbage and onions; improves growth and flavor.
Chervil	Companion to radishes; improves growth and flavor.
Chives	Companion to carrots; improves growth and flavor.
"Dead" nettle	Companion to potatoes; deters potato bugs; improves growth and flavor.
Dill	Companion to cabbage; dislikes carrots; improves the growth and health of cabbage.
Fennel	Plant away from gardens; most plants dislike it.
Flax	Companion to carrots and potatoes; deters potato bugs; improves growth and flavor.
Garlic	Plant near roses and raspberries; deters Japanese beetles; improves growth and health.
Henbit	General insect repellent.
Horseradish	Plant at the corners of a potato patch to deter potato bugs.
Hyssop	Deters cabbage moths; companion to cabbage and grapes.Keep away from radishes.
Lamb's quarter's	This edible weed should be allowed to grow in moderate amounts in the garden, especially in corn.
Lemon balm	Sprinkle throughout the garden.
Lovage	Improves flavor and health of plants if planted hee and there.
Marigolds	The workhorse of the pest deterrents. Plant throughout the garden; discourages Mexican bean beetles, nematodes, and other insects.
Marjoram	Here and there in the garden; improves flavor.
Mint	Companion to cabbage and tomatoes; improves health and flavor;deters white cabbage moths.
Mole plant	Deters moles and mice if planted here and there.
Nasturlium	Companion to radishes, cabbage, and gourds; plant under fruit trees; deters aphids, squash bugs, and striped pumpkin beetles; improves growth and flavor.
Peppermint	Planted among cabbages, it repels white cabbage butterflies
Petunia	Protects beans.
Pigweed	One of the best weeds for pumping nutrients from the subsoil; it is good for potatoes, onions, and corn; keep weeds thinned.
Pot marigold (Calendula)	Companion to tomatoes, but plant elsewhere in the garden, too; deters asparagus beetles, tomato worms, and general garden pests.
Purslane	deters asparagus beetles, tomato worms, and general garden pests.
Rosemary	Companion to cabbage, beans, carrots, and sage; deters cabbage moths, bean bettles, and carrot flies
Rue	Keep it far away from sweet basil; plant near roses and raspberries; deters Japanese beetles.
Sage	Plant with rosemary, cabbage, and carrots; keep away from cucumbers; deters cabbage moth, carrot fl.
Southernwood	Plant here and there in garden; companion to cabbage; improves growth and flavor; deters cabbage moths
Sow thistle	This weed in moderate amounts can help tomatoes, onions, and corn.
Summer savory	Plant with beans and onions; improves growth and flavor;deters bean beetles.
Tansy	Plant under fruit trees; companion to roses and raspberries; deters flying insects, Japanese beetles, striped cucumber beetles,squash bugs, and ants.
Tarragon	Good throughout the garden.
Thyme	Here and there in the garden; deters cabbage worms.
Valerian	Good anywhere in the garden.
Wormwood	As a border, it keeps animals from the garden.
Yarrow	Plant along borders, paths, and near aromatic herbs; enhances essential oil production.

 

All-Around Beneficial Influence—Certain herbs and one tree have a beneficial influence on the whole plant community. These plants and their characteristics are:

• Lemon balm creates a beneficial atmosphee around itselfand attracts bees. Part of the mint family.
• Marjoram has a beneficial efect on surrounding plants.
• Oregano has a beneficial efect on surrounding plants.
• Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica): Helps neighboring plants to grow more resistant to spoiling. Increases the essential oil content in many herbs. Stimulates humus formation. Helps stimulate fermentation in compost piles. As a tea, it promotes plant growth and helps strengthen plants. Concentrates sulfur, potassium, calcium, and iron in its body.
• Valerian (Valeriana officinali): Helps most vegetables. Stimulates phosphorus activity in its vicinity. Encourages health and disease resistance in plants.
• Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile): A lime specialist. Contains a growth hormone which stimulates the growth of yeast. In a 1:100 ratio, it helps the growth of wheat. As a tea, it combats diseases such as damping off in young plants. Concentrates calcium, sulfur, and potash in its body.
• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinal): Increases the aromatic quality of all herbs. In small amounts it helps most vegetables. Concentrates potash in its body.

Composting

• Written by Jonathan White, Environmental Scientist

For many people, composting is just an alternative way of dealing with rubbish.  It prevents the garbage bin from getting full and smelly.  It’s also a way of disposing of grass clippings and leaves, which saves many trips to the garbage depot. Whilst these things are valid, they are not giving compost the full credibility it deserves.  Compost can be very valuable when used in the right way.

Read more: Composting

Composting The Easy Way

Having an ample supply of good rich compost is the gardeners' dream. Composthas many uses, and all of those uses will result in nicer plants. However, composting can be time consuming and hard work. I place a reasonable value on my time, so spending hours and hours turning compost piles doesn’t qualify as a worthwhile exercise, at least in my book. Nonetheless, I do compost, but I do so on my terms.

Read more: Composting The Easy Way