Can’t we all get along? The 2005 Old Farmer's Almanac gives gardeners advice on which varieties to plant together or apart and which will repel destructive pests. (Hint: Weeds aren't always the bad guy and don't necessarily deserve their troublesome reputation!) Plant companions ensure a happy garden, and gardener.
• Dill and basil planted among tomatoes protect the tomatoes from hornworms, and sage scattered about the cabbage patch reduces injury from cabbage moths.
• Marigolds are as good as gold when grown with just about any garden plant, repelling beetles, nematodes, and even animal pests.
• Carrots, dill, parsley, and parsnip attract garden heroes — praying mantises, ladybugs, and spiders — that dine on insect pests.
• Leafy greens like spinach and Swiss chard grown in the shadow of corn or sunflowers appreciate the dapple shade they cast and, since their roots occupy different levels in the soil, don't compete for water and nutrients.
• Potatoes grow poorly in the company of sunflowers, and although cabbage and cauliflower are closely related, they don't like each other at all.
• You would assume that keeping a garden weed-free would be a good thing, but this is not always the case. Certain weeds pull nutrients from deep in the soil and bring them close to the surface. When the weeds die and decompose, nutrients become available in the surface soil and are more easily accessed by shallow-rooted plants.
• Perhaps one of the most intriguing examples of strange garden bedfellows is the relationship between the weed stinging nettle and several vegetable varieties. For reasons that are unclear, plants grown in the presence of stinging nettle display exceptional vigor and resist spoiling.
