Wealden Times | WT170 | April 2016 | Garden supplement inside

WT Garden Supplement
FreeImages.com/ Stephen Metcalfe
Alliums make good companions for many
crops, as their strong smell confuses pests
can be almost any shape – circular, half moon, triangular,
or even part of a larger complicated shape or pattern, as in
a parterre or knot garden. The advantage of using beds with
definite shapes, whether raised or not, is that it is easier to
keep the whole thing under control and free of weeds, with
clear paths for access. If you want to create a naturalistic
look, or are growing vegetables among your flowers in a true
cottage garden style, plant in drifts and make each group of
plants a tear drop shape, so that one variety blends into the
next, and crops that go well together are next to one another.
Good companions
Some crops are happy to share a bed, others will complain.
A few (endearingly called ‘nurse’ crops) will even look out
for the others and offer physical or chemical protection.
Broad beans are used to protect emerging potato plants from
the wind and late frosts, French marigolds (Tagetes) are
traditionally grown among tomatoes to ward off whitefly.
Leguminous plants like peas and beans trap atmospheric
nitrogen in root nodules and make it useable, so leave the
roots of peas and beans in the ground to benefit the next crop.
There’s an old Native American bed-sharing technique
called The Three Sisters, involving sweetcorn, squash and
climbing beans. They all need the same rich, moisture
retentive soil, but the beans add nitrogen and use the
sweetcorn for support, the squash has large leaves that act
as a weed suppressant and provide shade at the roots of the
others. Individually, these crops take up a lot of ground
but, because they use different parts of the space, they can
all be grown together in just one bed. In theory this combo
sounds ideal, but in reality it can end up as a huge mess
(that’s sisters for you). Make sure your beans and squash
aren’t huge, vigorous varieties that will swamp the corn.
Alliums make good companions for many crops, as their
strong smell confuses pests that are drawn to particular
plants. Carrots interspersed with chives, leeks or onions will
deter carrot root fly. Herbs are also very useful. Coriander
and chervil will repel aphids, fennel or dill are good among
cabbage and lettuce (don’t use both or they’ll hybridise and
you’ll end up with unsavoury ‘dennel’ or ‘fill’…). These
umbellifers will also attract pollinators and predatory wasps.
Beneficial bugs and beasts
To encourage beneficial pollinating insects into your
plot, plant nectar-rich flowers like ‘Poached egg flowers’,
sweet peas and Verbena bonariensis. Deter Cabbage White
butterflies from brassicas with a ‘trap’ crop of nasturtiums.
This works best when the nasturtiums are planted away from
the cabbages etc, otherwise they tend to go on to both…
Birds are very useful in the veg patch (but put a cage around
your fruit). All birds feed insects to their young in spring and,
although birds will also eat your seeds, their bug-catching role
in spring is very useful. Attract them by growing plants with
good seed heads – poppies, sunflowers, cirsium and teasel.
When companions fall out
Self-seeding, nectar-rich flowers look gorgeous popping
up serendipitously all over your plot – at first. Once you’ve
allowed this to happen for a few seasons you may find yourself
swamped in a tangle of rampant nasturtiums and thickets
of African marigolds. I’ve let crocosmia creep in too (what
was I thinking?!), and a forest of Verbena bonariensis. It looks
wonderful but it can be a struggle to find the edible crops…
In a multi-crop environment it’s tricky to work out which
plants are weeds and which are prized seedlings; before
you’ve had time to reach for your hoe the weeds can take
over a newly cultivated patch. The textbook way to manage
the rash of weeds that spring up in newly turned earth is
to prepare the seed bed and leave it for three weeks, then
slice the seedlings off with a nice sharp hoe (you could
sharpen your hoe during the three week break). It needs to
be sharp so that you don’t disturb the soil again – or you’ll
have to leave it another three weeks. Once the bed is clear
of weeds, sow your crop and – according to the textbooks
– a clean, weed-free row of seedlings should appear.
Growing flowers among your vegetables (or in my case,
vegetables among the flowers) is a healthy and productive
thing to do. Transforming a dull vegetable plot into a
naturally flourishing and environmentally friendly space
will bring appreciative visitors of all kinds – people and
pollinators will want to spend time in it. It can get a little
untidy if you’re not careful, but a few weeds and unruly
seedlings are a small price to pay for a beautifully diverse
and sustainable plot. Let’s get companionable out there.
For border designs, planting and gardening ideas, contact
Jo on 01233 861149 www.hornbrookmanor.co.uk
Growing flowers among your vegetables
is a healthy and productive thing to do
FreeImages.com/ Jenny Sliwinski
5 www.wealdentimes.co.uk
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