Ed. — From the Sunday, March 3, print edition.
VIRGINIA BEACH — I hear a lot of talk about companion planting when people plan their spring gardens.
It’s a practice that, in one form or another, has been around for years, but it’s getting a lot of attention now as many gardeners are becoming interested in reducing their use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
West Virginia Extension defines companion planting as “the practice of growing several types of crops near one another to enhance crop production.” Gardeners are becoming interested in it as a way of controlling insects or adding nutrients to the soil. In some cases, it also allows them to space and time more efficiently.
The practice is said to date back to pre-colonial America, when some native American tribes grew the three sisters, corn, beans and squash, together. The three sisters, just like the idealized sisters who live only in the pages of Victorian storybooks, always cooperated and worked together for everyone’s benefit.
Corn, the older and taller sister, provided support for the running beans, while the beans put nitrogen into the soil for the always-hungry corn to feed on. The squash, meanwhile, spread its long vines along the ground and formed a natural mulch that held moisture, discouraged weeds and shaded its sisters’ roots.
My first exposure to companion planting came years ago when I was told that growing marigolds next to tomatoes would help to deter insects. Now, gardeners are becoming more aware of the symbiotic relationship between flowers, vegetables, and herbs, and you frequently see all three planted in the same garden.
Sometimes, as in the case of the corn stalks that served as a trellis for the beans, planting some crops together also saves space and reduces labor for the gardener.
Some gardeners now plant summer crops, such as peppers, in the same bed with the early crops such as lettuce and spinach.
By the time the summer crops begin to grow, the cool weather crops have been harvested, and their roots and the remaining stubble aerate and enrich the soil as they break down.
Legumes such as beans and peas also fix nitrogen into the soil, and some, like green peas, can be grown as an early crop so that the bed can be used for other vegetables later in the season. Cover crops such as clover and hairy vetch, also fix nitrogen in the soil, and hairy vetch’s beautiful blooms add color to any garden.
Hairy vetch isn’t the only pragmatic beauty in the garden. Many ornamentals also attract pollinators such as bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. Without pollinators, not much else is going to happen, and many flowers, including native plants such as black-eyed Susan, columbine,and many species of aster, attract pollinators.
Herbs can also help attract pollinators. Parsley and dill serve as host plants for swallowtail butterflies, and bees and butterflies also seem to adore the nectar from flowering herbs such as bee balm and lavender.
Some herbs and flowers also deter unwelcome insects. Marigold is now commonly planted in the vegetable garden, but other plants, including dill and basil, will also help keep away unwelcome visitors.
Of course, as with everything, there can be a downside to planting crops close to each other. Planting potatoes and tomatoes together can increase the risk of disease and insect infestation in both. Corn and tomatoes are both heavy feeders and, if planted next to each other, will deplete the soil of nutrients.
Oddly enough, I’ve also noticed that, while basil repels some insects, it seems to attract Japanese beetles like a magnet. Sweet basil is also susceptible to fungi in this climate, so unless you’re prepared to spend some time doing damage control, you might want to think twice before you plant basil.
The author is a contributor to The Independent News. Her journalism has also appeared in The Virginian-Pilot.
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