Top Ten Attractive Companion Plants

I’ve been battling with the aphids in the last couple of weeks. Well, I say “battling” – I’m a vegan and I find it very hard to do any direct kind of pest control, preferring to leave nature to take care of the job… more of a permaculture holistic approach. But in the absence of predatory ladybirds, the aphids have been mounting attacks on my flowers, fruit and veg and I’ve had to take some sort of action. Companion planting.

English lavender

In the large vegetable plot, I’ve already planted nasturtiums and french marigolds around the beans and sweet peas to ward off aphid attacks – the idea is that the strong scented plants confuse or attract the “pests” away from crops and blooms. But I need to extend my companion planting to other areas too. The aphids are relentless at this time of year!

I’ve also come to learn that although companion plants may be functional, but they can also add a touch of cottage garden elegance and charm to veg plots and garden borders. So after some research, here are my top ten companion plants for the allotment, potager and kitchen garden:

marigold

  1. Marigold/Calendula
    Another popular addition in many kitchen gardens is the marigold. Whether it’s a frilly french marigold (Tagetes patula) or the simpler, but delicate and pretty english pot marigold (Calendula officinalis), these bright blooms are a welcome addition to any successful growing plot. The strong scent confuses and deters many pests, with french marigolds in particular useful in warding off whitefly. The open single blooms of english marigolds also attract pollinators, which in turn pollinate flowers that yield crops.
  2. Nasturtiums
    A mainstay of any potager, the humble nasturtium is easy to grow from seed, or cheap to buy as a pot-grown specimen. Copious orange blooms and a strong scent lure aphids and pests away from tender crops like beans, whilst nasturtium leaves serve as an attractive site for cabbage whites to lay their eggs – so a great ‘sacrificial crop’ for brassicas too.
  3. Thyme
    When in flower, this perennial herb is attractive to beneficial insects. It’s also a great deterrent for whitefly that are attracted to brassicas like cabbages – just distill some fresh sprigs in water for 24hours to make a “tea” and spray your brassicas to leave a scent that could send the aphids on their way.
  4. Sage
    Like most herbs, the strong scent of sage confuses pests and aphids. Sage is a great companion plant for brassicas like cabbages, brussels sprouts and broccoli, but also works well with carrots and strawberries too.
  5. Garlic chives
    This striking member of the allium family produces long spikes topped with star-like clusters of small flowers. The strong scent is great at deterring and confusing carrot fly, and can also serve as a pest deterrent when planted near or under roses.
  6. Lavender
    This popular flowering herb is a veritable pollinator magnet, so will help to increase pollination rates and yields. Its strong, pleasant scent also confuses pests, and is particularly well-placed near carrot crops, leeks and tender vegetables.
  7. Sweet Alyssum
    A charming, low-growing ground covering plant that can not only help to suppress weed growth, but also helps to protect potatoes from pests by attracting natural predators.
  8. Rosemary
    Chillies and pumpkins are two grow-your-own favourites that would benefit from rosemary companion plants. Blue flowers in spring help to attract pollinators, and the
  9. Zinnia
    Bright and bold, these blooms are a brilliant addition to any edible garden. Opt for single flower strains, and mix and match taller and shorter varieties to attract aphids away from crops and capture the interest of butterflies, who tend to cruise higher above the ground.
  10. Mint… or Catmint! 
    OK, so it’s not the prettiest plant around, but mint certainly has an attractive aroma, especially the likes of spearmint, applemint and even pineapple mint! But good old ordinary mint, when restricted and planted in a pot (even in open ground), can be really useful in confusing pests and potential plant munchers with its strong scent. Plant near brassicas, tomatoes, carrots and alliums like leeks, onions and shallots as a deterrent to the likes of aphids and ants.
    If you’re not keen on introducing the thuggish mint into your veg plots or borders, try the similarly named (but unrelated) cat mint instead. Cat mint – or nepeta – produces pretty spires of blue flowers that pollinators love, and its scented leaves repel the likes of flea beetle, aphids, ants, squash bugs and even rats and mice. Plant near squashes, pumpkins, beetroot and even roses to keep pests at bay.

Into the swing of spring – strawberries recovering

Cambridge Favourite strawberry plants

Despite the late, late frosts last month, I’m pleased to see that my tatty strawberry patch is recovering nicely! I picked out the damaged black-eyed strawberry flowers, and crossed everything that the remaining buds weren’t damaged. And although some of the Cambridge Favourite strawberry flowers have opened with black centres, it seems most are A-OK. Phew!

I’ve decided to help my strawberries along a bit this year. Last year I was terrible, neglecting to water or tend to the plants until they pretty much shrivelled up in protest. This year, I’ve started as I intend to go on, giving the plants a little more TLC in the hope that they will flourish… and I’ll get to enjoy a decent crop of fresh, ripe, sun-soaked(!) strawberries.

Growing a successful strawberry crop

Firstly, I can tell you that I will NOT be putting out any kind of slug pellet or slug trap. I’m a live and let live kind of gardener. The only “pellets” I would consider are the wool pellets, but current budget dictates that we’ll have to rely on other wildlife keeping slug numbers at a manageable level! We incur a few losses, but I think we’ve got a good balance here and we don’t have a massive slug or snail problem at all.

Let there be light
It’s said that the best, sweetest tasting strawberries are those that have been sun-soaked. It’s serendipitous that my no-dig strawberry patch gets sun from early morning through to late afternoon. So it’s up to the flighty British summer to sweeten those fruits now.

Mulching & weeding
As we’re currently experiencing some much-needed downpours, the setting fruits will need lifting off the (well-draining) soil, so a mulch of straw should do the trick. You can protect your fledgling fruits from birds with well-pegged down, tight and VISIBLE netting (add CDs or streaming ribbons to aid visibility), or if you’ve a few pennies and saved away, build a fruit cage (again, ensure the netting is visible to wildlife).

This year, with no budget for any kind of fruit cage, I shall be counting on the good grace of my feathered friends, and the fact that there are bird feeders all over the garden… e

Feeding
Mulching and regular weeding will also encourage healthy, vigorous growth, and the plants can be fed an organic liquid potash (potassium rich) feed (like tomato feed). Organic liquid seaweed feed might also help too, but watch the nitrogen content… you want it to be low. It’s also been suggested that homemade dilute liquid comfrey can help boost flavour of the fruits (1 part comfrey liquid to 15 parts water).

I’ve got a general organic kelp mix that I’ve been feeding weekly all over the veg patches, flower borders and fruit cages. The trick is to NOT overfeed or overwater your plants – just a little helping hand can do wonders.

Some raspberry TLC for nitrogen deficiency

Yellowing leaves on raspberries

Yellowing leaves are a tell-tale sign of a nutrient deficiency

Having looked back at some photos of my Polka raspberries from last year, I think they have been suffering from a nitrogen deficiency. Not surprising, since I barely remembered to water, let alone feed, the raspberry canes all year. The tell-tale yellowing leaves didn’t have much of a trace of brown in them, which would suggest a magnesium deficiency. Rather, the pinkish hue that crept into some of the leaves made me pin the lacklustre foliage and yields on a lack of nitrogen.

Usually, I start the year off by dressing the ground around the shallow raspberry roots with some compost, followed on with fresh grass clippings to release nutrients and retain water. Having failed to do either last year, this year I need a quick fix (poultry poop, free range from friends’ pet-only homes), followed by a liberal mulching of well-rotted garden compost for a slower-release supply of nitrogen.

Raspberry plants

The raspberries looked a little healthier, but still weak, earlier in the season

If there’s a magnesium deficiency there, half a cup of Epsom salts diluted in a watering can should do the trick.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that a little bit of TLC and a boost in the right nutrients will be just the fix I’m looking for, especially as my mum is ready and waiting in the wings to collect lots of the fruit for her cake baking this year. That’s more than enough motivation in itself to get the plants back in working order!