Garden BFFs? Why Your Vegetables Are Begging for Companion Plants

Nobody likes to see valuable garden vegetables eaten off by bugs. What if you could keep those damaging pests from your edibles without using insecticides? All it requires is a couple helpful plants, better called companion plants.

Companion plants keep unwanted bugs off, but they also attract pollinators for many veggies, such as cucumbers, melons, tomatoes and squash. You could be surprised to discover that you’re likely already familiar with many of those helpful plants.

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

How Companion Plants Work

there are lots of companion plants which help repel damaging insects. You may wonder, how do they do this?

Insects are usually guided to plants by their odor. Aromatic plants such as marigolds, garlic, nasturtiums and basil will keep away bad bugs away from your vegetable garden.

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Other techniques companion plants assist in the vegetable garden is by attracting beneficial insectsthat assist pollinate flowering vegetables. Some companion plants also attract good bugs that will eat the undesirable bugs.

Shown: Female cucumber flower

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Companion plants operate best when planted alongside veggies. You can plant them between rows of veggies, or you could merely intersperse them through the developing vegetables. Most companion plants are easily grown from seed and can be planted in precisely the exact same period as your vegetable seeds.

Shown: Marigolds, garlic and nasturtiums planted next to leaf lettuce

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Cucumbers, tomatoes and squash are only a couple of plants from the vegetable garden which will need to have their flowers pollinated to produce delicious vegetables for your table. Flowering companion plants such as alyssum and bachelor’s button add beauty to your garden whilst attracting pollinators.

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Popular Companion Plants

Companion plants are not fussy and are simple to grow. Listed below are a couple that could help out in your own vegetable garden.

Repel unwanted bugs: Basil, garlic, geraniums, marigolds, lavender, nasturtiums, petunias, rosemary, sage and thyme

Attract beneficial insects: Alyssum, bachelor’s button, cosmos and chamomile

Shown: Alyssum, bachelor’s button and marigolds planted along with a young tomato plant

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Basil masks the alluring scent of your own vegetable plants, keeping bad bugs off. Listed below are two other reasons to develop basil in your backyard:
Basil is very easy to grow from seed or seedlings once the danger of frost has passed. You can also develop it into containers.It’s hard to beat the fresh taste of basil at a popular Italian dish.

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Nasturtiums are excellent companion plants since bugs hate their peppery odor. They not only repel bugs you don’t want around, they alsoattract pollinators. However there are different advantages of incorporating nasturtiums to a vegetable garden:

Every part of nasturtiums is raw, plus they add a delicious, peppery flavor to salads.
they’re simple to grow from seed.
The flowers add beauty to any vegetable garden.

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Marigolds add a bright and bright spot of colour. Pest bugs simply hate them and stay away. Buy them in six-packs or start them from seed.

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Alyssum does double duty as a companion plant. Its flowers attract pollinators in addition to great bugs that feed upon the undesirable ones. They have other advantages too:
The flowers have a sweet fragrance.You can buy them from six-packs from the nursery or simply scatter seeds throughout the backyard. More: Things to Do in Your Garden Today

See related