By Kathy Sullivan, Communications Director
Putting certain plants together (commonly called companion planting) can be beneficial in a number of ways, and the most important of those is naturally repelling pests.
Having pests in the garden is a particularly vexing problem, and gardeners spend a lot of time finding and sharing their solutions for getting rid of unwanted pests.
Companion planting is Mother's Nature's insect control, and is the method of growing complementary plants side by side.
Some recommendations:
In photo: the herb 'chervil'
Putting certain plants together (commonly called companion planting) can be beneficial in a number of ways, and the most important of those is naturally repelling pests.
Having pests in the garden is a particularly vexing problem, and gardeners spend a lot of time finding and sharing their solutions for getting rid of unwanted pests.
Companion planting is Mother's Nature's insect control, and is the method of growing complementary plants side by side.
Some recommendations:
- Scented flowers (bee/pollinator friendly) next to a fruiting plant (i.e. peppers, squash)
- French marigolds along side tomatoes to deter whiteflies
- Chervil or coriander next to plants suffering from aphids
- Chives next to tomatoes also keep aphids away
- Mint next to arugula to deter the flea beetle
- Let dill go to flower to attract aphid eating hoverflies
In photo: the herb 'chervil'