Companion Planting
8 articles
Intercropping: two crops in one bed, without losing either
How to fit a second crop into a bed without halving the first. Keep the main crop at full spacing, use the time, height and root gaps, and compare days to maturity before you sow.
Underplanting fruit trees: what to grow under the canopy without starving the tree
A plan for the circle of ground under a backyard fruit tree: the clear trunk collar that lowers the collar rot risk, why lawn is the worst option, what to sow beyond the drip line, and how each climate zone changes it.
Asparagus companion planting: choosing neighbours for a twenty year bed
An asparagus bed is a twenty year decision you cannot dig over later. What can share the space during the spring cutting season, what has to stay out, and whether the old warning about onions and garlic holds up.
What to plant with potatoes, and what to keep away
Most potato companion charts are folklore. Here is what the Australian evidence supports: keep the rest of the potato family out of the bed, leave room to hill up, and put the flowers where they will not get buried.
Three Sisters in Australia: corn, beans and squash in one bed
Corn, climbing beans and squash in one patch works here, but the planting order decides it. Block spacing, the 15 cm bean rule, why the beans do not feed the corn, and sowing windows for all six climate zones.
Growing Nasturtiums in the Vegetable Garden
Why nasturtiums earn their space
Nasturtiums pay their way more than once. They pull aphids off the crops you want to eat, they flower for months o...
Companion Planting for a Sustainable Home Garden
What companion planting is
Companion planting means growing different plants close together so that each one gains something from the other. In a h...
Companion planting in Australia: what really helps, and what is folklore
Some companion planting genuinely helps and a lot is folklore. Here is what stands up in an Australian vegetable garden.