Mister Sister
Active Member
Hey there,
So I wanted to start a thread for people to share some companion planting ideas that have worked for them in the past.
The past few years I have been experimenting with perennial/forest gardening. The basic premise is to plant/keep a forest, in mid-succession, full of useful/edible/medicinal plants. A small plot/ecosystem of plants in a particular area is called a 'guild'. One can find guilds in the wild - thorny berries like raspberries and blackberries will thrive in a forest-edge habitat. The forest-edge provides them a favorable condition for growth. Apple and pear trees also thrive on an edge habitat, and can be planted just behind the berries.
Another great combo I use a lot is sage and thyme.
Plant the sage about 18" apart, with thyme in the middle of every 2 sages. This pic was taken almost 2 years ago, and these plants were covering almost that entire area only 1 year ago. This season would've been a great time to divide these plants and give them to friends and family. One family can only use so many grocery bags full of fresh sage! 
Flowers are great companion plants, they add so many benefits to your garden.
This patch has sage, parsley, sweet marjoram, blue sage, russian sage, and rosemary surrounding a bunch of cosmos and other beneficial (insectary) flowers. Some have already bloomed, but the cosmos are just popping in this pic as you can see. Plant patches of flowers throughout your entire plot.
For annual gardening, this pic was of a very successful raised-bed.
In the front, on the right, are beets that were planted during april. Just behind them, on the trellis, are cucumbers that went in the ground (from seed) in late may. Before either of them, right behind the trellis, we had peas (planted march) that had just been tilled in. The peas, being a legume, adds nitrogen to the bed to support the cucumbers later in the season. The beets (or radish, turnip etc) don't use much in the way of nutrients, and they keep the weeds down to a minimum for the cucs, who grow upwards on the fence to conserve space.
Another annual example is the three-sisters garden. A lot of work, but if you are willing to put it in, you will be richly rewarded!
Here we have 10ftx10ft plots mapped out in hills. On each hill, 4 corn plants are seeded in the four directions. When the corn is about 6 in tall, plant pole beans (think dried beans) right next to each corn plant. They will grow up the corn plant and add nitrogen to the soil. They will fruit until frost. When the beans pop and those first true leaves appear, plant your squash in between your hills. I have found that the yellow crooked neck and any of the patty-pan or scallop varieties work the best. Zucs need a bit more sun, and butternut/acorn types tend to get freakin huge and it's just too much! We used drip irrigation on each hill and at each squash plant.
Also, plant onions everywhere (green onions too!)...any plant that you would want to eat with onion should have onions planted near it. They don't use much in the way of food and they tend to confuse pests with their strong odor.
Anybody else out there have any experience with companion planting? Let's hear it! Peace.
So I wanted to start a thread for people to share some companion planting ideas that have worked for them in the past.
The past few years I have been experimenting with perennial/forest gardening. The basic premise is to plant/keep a forest, in mid-succession, full of useful/edible/medicinal plants. A small plot/ecosystem of plants in a particular area is called a 'guild'. One can find guilds in the wild - thorny berries like raspberries and blackberries will thrive in a forest-edge habitat. The forest-edge provides them a favorable condition for growth. Apple and pear trees also thrive on an edge habitat, and can be planted just behind the berries.
Another great combo I use a lot is sage and thyme.
Plant the sage about 18" apart, with thyme in the middle of every 2 sages. This pic was taken almost 2 years ago, and these plants were covering almost that entire area only 1 year ago. This season would've been a great time to divide these plants and give them to friends and family. One family can only use so many grocery bags full of fresh sage! Flowers are great companion plants, they add so many benefits to your garden.
This patch has sage, parsley, sweet marjoram, blue sage, russian sage, and rosemary surrounding a bunch of cosmos and other beneficial (insectary) flowers. Some have already bloomed, but the cosmos are just popping in this pic as you can see. Plant patches of flowers throughout your entire plot.For annual gardening, this pic was of a very successful raised-bed.
In the front, on the right, are beets that were planted during april. Just behind them, on the trellis, are cucumbers that went in the ground (from seed) in late may. Before either of them, right behind the trellis, we had peas (planted march) that had just been tilled in. The peas, being a legume, adds nitrogen to the bed to support the cucumbers later in the season. The beets (or radish, turnip etc) don't use much in the way of nutrients, and they keep the weeds down to a minimum for the cucs, who grow upwards on the fence to conserve space.Another annual example is the three-sisters garden. A lot of work, but if you are willing to put it in, you will be richly rewarded!
Here we have 10ftx10ft plots mapped out in hills. On each hill, 4 corn plants are seeded in the four directions. When the corn is about 6 in tall, plant pole beans (think dried beans) right next to each corn plant. They will grow up the corn plant and add nitrogen to the soil. They will fruit until frost. When the beans pop and those first true leaves appear, plant your squash in between your hills. I have found that the yellow crooked neck and any of the patty-pan or scallop varieties work the best. Zucs need a bit more sun, and butternut/acorn types tend to get freakin huge and it's just too much! We used drip irrigation on each hill and at each squash plant.Also, plant onions everywhere (green onions too!)...any plant that you would want to eat with onion should have onions planted near it. They don't use much in the way of food and they tend to confuse pests with their strong odor.
Anybody else out there have any experience with companion planting? Let's hear it! Peace.
