Ivydene Gardens Companion Planting:
How to use Companion Planting in your Garden

Companion planting in an organic garden should avoid the following:-

Planting in blocks - provides a feast for the pests which prey on them,
 
Mixing plants solely on the basis of their size and colour, without taking into consideration their companion planting effect for other plants,
 
Leaving beds of exposed soil.

 

There is no heavy digging to do, since the exposed soil should be covered with

shredded compost,
 
by the under-sowing of shrubs/trees with spinach, mustard or phacelia (phacelia is a small feathery plant, which with its blue flowers is attractive to bees) in the spring,
and by the following under-planting:-

Plant

Under-plant with plant

to help

Roses

nasturtium

inhibit the growth of weeds

Roses

periwinkle

in shady places (USE FEW plants and check periwinkles invasiveness of climbing over the roses)

Roses

garlic

to keep pests away with the help of sage, thyme, hyssop and lavender around the border edges

Shrubs

fritillaria

discourage mice and voles

Shrubs

lillies/ fritillaria

lillies require shade at their feet with garlic to discourage snails and mice

Shrubs

calendula

inhibits nematodes, as does French Marigold

Shrubs

euphorbia lathyris

discourages voles

Shrubs

lamium galeobdolon

yellow dead nettle is a good ground cover requiring no maintenance, as are the other lamiums.

This means the land is overgrown with green to hold the weeds down, the roots keep the soil broken up and the soil is shaded to prevent it drying out.

It is useful when planting a tree or shrub to put prime barley grain in the hole to lie just under the roots. A handful for a small shrub, a pail-full for a large tree. As the grain germinates beneath the roots, heat is generated and growth hormones released. Since the barley is unable to shoot after germinating, it eventually rots away to provide still more nourishment to the roots.

In the spring sow spinach, mustard or nasturtium round the base to shade the ground (3 feet radius from trunk). Keep grass away from all trees/shrubs by at least 3 feet radius to prevent it from taking all the nutrients and its rainwater. Chase Organics (www.chaseorganics.co.uk) are suppliers of liquid extracts of seaweed, which is useful in providing the small amounts of trace elements in exactly the right proportions for all plants including your lawn in the early spring.

In the garden the following relationships should be observed:-

Plants need other plants as partners in many different connections - see the Companion Plant A-Z Table,
 
Cultivated plants need various herbs to accompany them, i.e to promote their health and growth, to give shade and to protect them from pests and diseases,
 
Animals in the garden need plants; bees must be able to feed themselves,
 
Plants need 'animals' bees pollinate some flowers, and most ants ventilate the soil, crumble it and de-acidify it,
 
Birds need plants to supply them with food,
 
'Animals' need other 'animals' as regulators. Ladybirds eat aphids.
 
'Animals' need wild flowers, on which to lay their eggs and rear their progeny. Butterflies and ladybirds need stinging nettles as breeding places.
 
Trees are required to provide shade and/or a windbreak.
 
The following combination of plants mean that growth can be hindered: beans and onions, cabbages and onions, red cabbages and tomatoes, parsley and cabbage lettuce, beetroot and tomatoes, potatoes and onions.

the following are useful plants for these relationships:-

Common Name

Plant Name

Balm. Attracts bees. Culinary use with all uncooked food.

Melissa
officinalis

Basil. Plant with cucumber. Use as flavouring in all raw and cooked foods

Ocimum
basilicum

Bellflower

Campanula

Birch. Butterfly

Betula

Blackberry. Emperor moth

Rubus

Bleeding heart

Dicentra

Borage. Plant with brassicas. Borage loosens heavy or hard ground. Culinary use in salads

Borago
officinalis

Box

Buxus
microphylla

Campion.

Lychnis
arkwrightii

Chervil. Plant with lettuce and endives. Culinary use in soups and gravies.

Anthriscus
cerefolium

Chives. Attracts bees. Wards off fungal diseases. Plant with roses. Culinary use in soup, sandwiches and salad dressings.

Allium

Coriander. Attracts bees. Culinary use with cabbages, potatoes, beetroot and in bread.

Coriandrum
sativum

Costmary or Mint Geranium.

Chrysanthemum balsamita

Comfrey. Attracts bees. It prefers damp ground. Can use the mown leaves as a fertilising mulch or having placed its leaves with nettle into a container and covered with water, this liquid after 4 weeks can be used as a fertiliser.

Symphytum
asperum

Cummin. Attracts bees

Carum carvi

Daffodil. Plant with roses

Narcissus

Single dahlias. Food for butterfly

Dahlia

Dame’s violet

Hesperis

Day lily

Hemerocallis

Dill. Plant with carrots, cucumber, cabbage, beetroot to keep those plants healthy. Lowers the blood sugar level. Culinary use as food seasoning.

Anthemum graveolens

Elder . Discourages mice, voles and moles.

Sambucus

Elecampane

Inula

Euphorbia. Food for butterflies

Euphorbia

Fennel. Culinary use of main plant as a vegetable

Foeniculum
vulgare

Foxglove

Digitalis

Garlic. Discourages aphids. Culinary use daily as a seasoning, often combined with parsley to counteract high blood pressure.

Allium
sativum

Gooseberry. A straw mulch up to the bottom branches to stop weeds. 1 wormwood to 3 gooseberries to stop rust and tansy to promote health.

Ribes
grossularia

Grape hyacinth

Muscari

Hazel. Attracts Butterflies.

Corylus

Heliotrope

Heliotropium arborescens

Honeysuckle. Food for butterflies

Lonicera

Iris

Iris
germanica

Larkspur

Annual
delphinium

Lavender. Attracts bees and butterflies. Plant with roses and other shrubs which suffer from aphids. Discourages ants. Discourages moths when placed in cupboards

Lavandula

Lemon balm. Outstanding plant for bees. Culinary use in salads

Melissa
officinalis

Lilac. Butterfly

Syringa

Lillies

Lilium
candidum

Lovage. Attracts bees. Culinary use in soups to cleanse the kidneys and aid digestion.

Levisticum
officinale

Lupins

Lupinus

Marigold. Plant with tomato. Can be added to soups and sauces

Calendula

Marguerite

Chrysanthemum

Michaelmas daisy. Food for butterflies. Pests find the leaves of perennial asters disagreeable to the smell and bitter to the taste, so they are good flowers to grow both for massing and cutting.

Aster

Monkshood

Aconitum

Mugwort. Attracts bees. Promotes digestion as a tea

Artemesia
vulgaris

Mullein. Emperor moth

Verbascum

Mustard and Marigold. Sow with strawberries after picking and cleaning the rows ( after the leaves have been cut off, the weeds removed and the soil loosened) to ward off nematodes. Culinary use of mustard seeds with water for breakfast to heal, cleanse, disinfect, regenerate and regulate the intestines.

Sinapis alba
and Calendula

Nasturtium. Tortoise-shell butterfly lays eggs on it. Culinary use of leaves in salad.

Trapaeolum

Onion. It contains cardio-active substances and some onion should be eaten daily.

Allium

Parsley. Plant with onion and tomato. Plant next to border. The leaves and roots regulate the digestion and should be used three times a week in dressings, uncooked food or with vegetables

Petroselinium
crispum

Peony. Ants help the peony to exhibit the most perfect blooms.

Paeonia

Privet. Butterfly

Liguster

Raspberry. Avoid animal manure, mulch with straw instead. Marigolds promote health

Rubus idaeus

Roses. Emperor moth

Damask and
moss roses

Rosemary. Attracts bees.

Rosmarinus
officinalis

Rue. Attracts bees

Ruta graveolens

Sage. Attracts bees. Plant with hyssop and thyme around the vegetable patch as a protective barrier against caterpillars, aphids and snails. Culinary use in sauces to purify the blood

Salvia officinalis

St John’s Wort

Hypericum

Salad burnet. Attracts bees.

Sanguisorba
minor

Sorrel. Attracts bees.

Rumex acetosa

Sloe. Emperor moth

Prunus spinesa

Stock

Matthiola

Stinging Nettle. Food for caterpillars of red admiral, brimstone and painted lady butterflies. Lay down flat as sheet compost between vegetables and hostas. Snails discouraged by nettle’s stinging hairs. Culinary use of young leaves in salads as blood purefying

Urtica dioica

Strawberry. Sow mustard in spring to provide shade and interplant with leeks to ward off nematodes. Mulch with straw to keep strawberries clean by stopping rain spattering mud on the fruit. Mow off the leaves after all fruit picked, plant mustard seed to become compost in the winter.

Fragaria
ananassae

Sunflower

Helianthus

Summer savory. Plant with beans. Culinary use of leaves with steamed vegetables to strengthen the nerves.

Satureja
hortensis

Tansy

Tanacetum
vulgare

Tarragon. Attracts bees. Culinary use of fresh leaves in uncooked food to strengthen the stomach and against rheumatism.

Artemesia
dracunculus

Thyme. Attracts bees. Plant with hyssop and sage around the vegetable patch as a protective barrier against caterpillars, aphids and snails. Culinary use as flavouring or as a tea in the treatment of worms. Be careful - An overdose is possible.

Thymus
vulgaris

Valerian. Attracts bees. Infusion of the blossom stimulates fruiting vegetables including beans, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, roses and irises. Do not use on lettuces, carrots or onions. Medical use as a tea for sleep-promoting, for no more than 2 weeks at a time. Be careful - An overdose is possible.

Valeriana
officinalis

Violet. Food for butterflies

Viola

Wild chamomile

Matricaria
chamomilla

Wormwood. Attracts bees. Plant with currants to ward off rust. Do not put into compost bin as worms hate it.

Artemesia
absinthium


Useful addresses:-

Chase Organics
Gibraltar House
Shepperton
Middlesex. TW17 8AQ

www.chaseorganics.co.uk

Organic Growers Association
Aeron Park
Llangeitho
Dyfed
Wales

Henry Doubleday Research Association
Convent Lane
Bocking
Braintree
Essex. CM7 6RW

www.gardenorganic.org.uk

Soil Association
Walnut Tree Manor
Haughley
Stowmarket
Suffolk. IP14 3RS


www.soilassociation.org

Organic Farm Supplies
Toke Place
Linton
Maidstone
Kent. ME17 4AP

Wyartt Seeds
Stone Cottage
Beyton
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk. IP30 9AF

Tel: 01359 270410

 

Companion planting can be considered as a complement to organic gardening.

Taking account of cosmic influences is one of the main differences between Bio-dynamic and Organic methods, as shall be shown on the Biodynamics page.

Ivydene Horticultural Services logo with I design, construct and maintain private gardens. I also advise and teach you in your own garden. 01634 389677

Ivydene
Horticultural
Services

As an Organic Gardener, I design, construct and maintain private gardens. I can also advise and teach you in your own garden.

01634 389 677
chris@ivydenegardens.co.uk
 


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