PERFECT PARTNERS
‘Companion planting’, as it is called, uses one plant to enhance the growth of another, either by its very proximity or by attracting insects which would otherwise plague the main crop. It varies in its effectiveness, but it is certainly worth a try since every little helps in the war against pests.
TOMATOES AND FRENCH MARIGOLDS
French marigolds – those small orange tagetes – give off a powerful root exudate (secretions) which, when the marigolds are planted in the same soil as the tomatoes, will help to ward off pests. It is important that the two share the same growing medium, rather than just being grown side by side. Basil, too, is said to attract pests that would otherwise feast on the underside of tomato leaves, but then I quite like my basil without whitefly, too!
BEANS AND NASTURTIUMS
Anyone who has grown broad, French and runner beans knows just how attractive the tops of the plants are to blackfly. This pest also loves nasturtiums, so planting nasturtiums among broad, French and runner beans will encourage the pests to latch on to them instead. You can help the process by pinching out the tender shoot tips of broad beans once three or four clusters of flowers have opened, thus removing the attractive portion. Cabbage white butterflies love nasturtiums, too – a double whammy for the poor things!
LEEKS AND LAVENDER
Lavender is a strongly scented sub-shrub and can confuse pests such as aphids when it is planted near leeks and carrots (maybe in pots or a separate bed as it has different watering needs). Lavender flowers are also a magnet for bees and other pollinators and so will keep a multitude of crops healthy – the hoverflies they encourage will help control aphids.
GARLIC CHIVES AND CARROTS
Carrots are martyrs to the tiny maggots that are the larvae of carrot fly, which burrow into the roots. Thinning the seedlings will produce the aroma (which encourages the flies to home in on the crop) but the heavily aromatic garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) planted in between carrot rows will confuse them.
It makes sense to grow at least a handful of crops to supplement those we can buy in the shops
rake, taking care to mark each row with a label showing the variety and the date on which it was sown. (I always think this helps me to know when to give up hope…)
There is still time to sow swedes, along with beetroot, carrots, spring onions, peas, salad leaves, rocket, spinach, Swiss chard and turnips. Why don’t more folk grow turnips such as ‘Snowball’? Sown now they grow fast and if harvested when golf-ball size, boiled and doused with butter and freshly ground pepper they are a real treat.
Grow some sweetcorn in blocks, rather than rows, to make for better pollination and fuller cobs, and you can sow marrows and courgettes outdoors now in rich earth and full sun. Protect, and give a head start to, newly sown seeds with a mini cloche made from half a plastic drinks bottle. Tomato plants can go outdoors now in a warm, sunny spot. If you haven’t yet started tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes and sweetcorn from seed, buy young plants or ‘plugs’ by mail order now, or from garden centres and nurseries once they reopen.
Keep your herbs happy
Herbs are best planted near to the kitchen door because, of course, it does rain in summer and you don’t want to get drenched going out for them. Almost all of them love full sun and good drainage.
Mint needs restraining – sink a large plastic pot into the ground with its rim protruding for a couple of inches and plant the mint within it, in ordinary garden soil. The eager runners will still try to escape but you will have a sporting chance of reducing their invasion rather than if the mint were planted directly in the soil.
Thyme is a good border edger and sage looks good behind it. The coloured-leaf forms – ‘Purpurascens’, ‘Icterina’ and ‘Tricolor’ – are attractive and tasty. Chives are essential so have several clumps and cut them alternately. And basil? Vital with olive oil-coated tomatoes and on buttered carrots. That said, basil is always more reliable grown inside on a windowsill. Sow a pinch of seed every week or two in a small recycled plastic pot and be self sufficient.