Yesterday I showed you how I planned my first garden using the square foot garden method. The only downside of the method I found was empty space between plants that required weeding. During my second year of gardening, I used the companion planting system outlined in Great Garden Companions by Sally Jean Cunningham. I found that combining the two systems allowed me to have a structured square foot style garden with very few weeds.
In Great Garden Companions, Sally lays out a system that groups plants into families based on soil requirements and growing season. She then lists helper plants, called friends, for each family that repels pests and attracts beneficial insect. Prior to reading Great Garden Companions, I didn’t appreciate the bugs in my garden. After reading about the important role that beneficial plants play, I now encourage them to live in my garden by planting flowers they love. My current garden plan consists of six families that will be planted in three beds. My families will rotate each year to prevent disease.
In addition to accepting bugs in my garden, my attitude towards weeds has changed. Sally defines a weed simply as a plant growing in an unwanted place. Instead of allowing weeds to grow, Great Garden Companions advocates intentionally planting every inch of your garden. For example, carrots can be planted in between tomato seedlings. By the time the tomatoes are big enough to block out other plants, the carrots will be harvested. While this takes more initial planning, over the course of the garden season, I’ve found it results in much less weeding.
Companion planting incorporates flowers into a vegetable garden to attract insects that will pollinate the crops like bumble bees and butterflies. Some flowers will also repel garden pests. Marigolds, for example repel the Mexican bean beetle. I like to include at least one flower in each of my garden families. I also try to pick flowers that will bloom at different times so I always have a colorful garden.
Click image to download free garden planning worksheet.
How do you decide what to grow together? Make a list of everything you want to grow. Using Great Garden Companions and the family and friends garden sheet that I have provided above, group your vegetables and flowers into families that grow well together.
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