Companion Planting Part 5

Companion Planting Plan: Where and Why

Finally, we have arrived at Part 5 where I am sharing the layout for each of our four garden beds identifying what and where I plant the vegetables, herbs, and flowers to create a productive garden and hospitable habitat for beneficial insects.

Let’s begin with the overall picture of the garden beds which reside in our front yard!

There are a total of twelve 10′ gutters and one 4′ gutter in the four garden beds. There are three 10′ tall arches that separate the two sets of garden fences. These arches have rambler roses planted on each end. The beds and a two foot border outside the fence are freshened annually with wood chips as a weed suppressing ground cover. Everywhere else is grass. To the far right of the layout are three fruit tree guilds. I covered those pretty thoroughly in Companion Planting Part 3: Addendum. The planter boxes shown in red in the above diagram are new additions this year. They are attached to split rail fences that surround the left and right sides of paired beds. The purpose of these planters is to hold companion plants that border the garden which adds yet another layer of protection. If you are interested in how we built these, you can find the “how-to” video here:

Now, let’s examine each garden bed map followed by an explanation of placement of plantings.

There are three 10′ gutters in Garden Bed #1 each holding nine 5 gallon buckets. The gutter on the far left hold two types of bush beans in six buckets and two buckets of cow peas. In the past I have planted two, three, and four bush beans per bucket and saw no difference in the growth or production. This year, I am choosing to plant three per bucket because I am interplanting a marigold in with two of the bush beans and basil in the other four. The strong scent of basil repels numerous pests to include aphids and spider mites which often attack beans. The marigolds deter another common predator, the Mexican bean beetle. Petunias are joining the zipper cream cowpeas in their buckets for a couple of reasons: they, too, deter bean beetles and are said to improve the flavor of several vegetables to include beans; cowpeas are also considered a bean. Catmint will have its own bucket in the center of the gutter. It’s strong scent also repels insects; all mints are aggressive growers and need to be planted in their own containers.

Moving to the center gutter, you will observe four buckets of okra, one plant per bucket and interplanted with nasturtiums. The okra buckets alternate with four buckets of more zipper cream cowpeas, again interplanted with petunias. The center bucket holds one tall sunflower and four calendula at its base. All of these flowers attract beneficial insects that prey on the bad bugs, but both the nasturtiums and calendula are also trap crops.

The gutter to the right has a 7′ tall trellis, not shown in the diagram, and will hold two climbing vegetables: muskmelons and black-eyed peas. Petunias, again, will share the containers of “cow peas” and the melons will have two companions: 3-4 radishes in the front of the bucket and a climbing nasturtium in the back. Radishes planted with melons guard against the cucumber beetle, a common enemy of melons. The radishes will not be harvested but left to mature, flower and go to seed. The nasturtiums bring in the good guys and again serve as a trap crop for aphids. The center bucket on this particular gutter houses the herb, dill. Dill’s odor deters a variety of the bad guys and especially attracts good predators such as ladybugs and hover flies.

The center of this garden bed has a beautiful iron cone-shaped trellis I found for a song at a local antique store a few years back. I’ve grown Jackmanii Clematis on it from the beginning, but to add interest and flower power for the whole growing season, I am adding two annual climbers: three varieties of sweet peas and two varieties of climbing nasturtiums. Flower Power is a very big aspect of companion planting, plus flowers make me smile! The trellis is surrounded by plantings of turmeric which have grown very well the past three years in ground in this garden bed.

Each of our four garden beds have quite a bit of unused space in their corners. So these areas are perfect spots to add some additional great companions that require their own containers. In each bed, I will be using various sizes of grow bags that will sit directly on the ground or in a large saucer for the few that prefer to have their feet sitting in water. The herbs in this bed include: lavender, basil interplanted with chamomile, and valerian. The companion planting flowers of bee balm, daisies, Mexican marigolds, geraniums, and alyssum will add additional color and benefits.

As we go through each bed, you will notice that in most cases, the same vegetables are not clustered together in a row, but separated by other crops. The purpose of this strategy, as stated in Companion Planting Part 2, is to confuse the enemy!

Garden Bed #2 sits directly below #1 and is inside the same split rail fence. It”s a bit of an odd shape as the lower fence end curves to follow a rock river bed that runs through our front yard dividing it in half. We have an enormous amount of water that flows off the hill along the upper south edge of our property during the numerous rains we get here. This rock bed helps to divert a good bit of the runoff to the lower north end where there is a dry creek. Because of its shape, this bed #2 holds two 10′ gutters and one 4′ baby gutter. Again, the gutter to the right has an attached 7′ tall trellis.

This particular bed gets the most afternoon shade on the left and center gutters, so I only plant vegetables that thrive with those conditions; those being hot peppers, sweet peppers, and bush beans. The trellised gutter holds four buckets of winter squash varieties and four containers of pinkeye purple hull peas. Hey, we live in Alabama…we love our cow peas and cornbread to sop up the pot liquor! LOL

Again, basil is interplanted with the bush beans, as well as, the pepper plants as this wonderful herb enhances the flavor of both and deters pests common to both. Petunias are interplanted with the purple hull peas for the same reasons, as they too, are “beans.” I am adding chives to the winter squash plants as this wonderful culinary allium is said to deter the moth that lays the eggs that turn into the squash vine borer. I’m truly hoping to find that claim to be valid with this new companion planting addition to squash this year! Catmint will be planted in its own bucket on the center of each of the two 10′ gutters. Mounding nasturtiums with also have their own buckets at the ends of the center gutter adding a layer of protection for these beans and sweet peppers. A bucket of zinnias and calendula sit between the two hot pepper plants.

Six grow bags on the ground will hold the additional companion planting herbs to include rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, lavender and yarrow, along with the flowers: alyssum, cosmos, and penstemon.

The range of companion plantings of herbs and flowers I’ve chosen will ensure a continuous bevy of blooms throughout the spring/summer and fall growing seasons that lure the nectar sippers and pollinators to the gardens.

Now, we come to tomatoville in Garden Bed #3. Although I do like to alternate vegetables on any particular gutter, these gutters are all tomatoes with the exception of two buckets of sweet pepper plants on the center gutter. I have one main reason for this and that is RAIN! We have gotten way more than our share of spring/summer rains the last two years. So much so, that last year we built a gutter roof over these three gutters and one more in bed #4 for protection. We intend to cover them all eventually, but selected to start with these first to cover the tomatoes which are incredibly prone to soil borne fungi usually occurring from soil splashing up on the leaves when it rains. Even though they are well mulched, tomatoes seem to be magnets for fungal issues and viruses. These gutter covers saved our tomatoes last year even through a tropical storm!

If you’re interested in how we built those, you can watch the “how-to” video here:

Our container size and shape for tomatoes has changed this year. Each of the slicer and paste varieties will be planted in a 14 gallon recycling bin. They are Rubbermaid and commercial grade, so should hold up very well to the elements.

Basil, petunias, and chives will be interplanted with each tomato plant as all three of these enhance their growth and flavor. Tomatoes are a deep rooted vegetable; basil’s roots generally go to around six inches and both chives and petunias (most flowering annuals,) are shallow rooted at around three inches. They should all be able to thrive in a 14 gallon container.

You will notice on each of the outer gutters there are two five gallon buckets of the companion plants: borage, dill, and nasturtiums. This is VERY intentional! Since I have been planting borage as a tomato neighbor, I have not had any tomato hornworms; borage repels them. The herb, dill, is actually a trap crop for them, so if they do arrive, they will go for the dill and be easier to spot, remove, and energetically toss them to our chickens!

The companion plantings in various size grow bags on the ground make up the same types in Beds #1 and #2 only the arrangement and placement is a bit different. Yarrow, for example, is a good neighbor for tomatoes, so it is in this right front bed whereas I located it the lower left bed #2 in the other half of the garden.

Turning attention to the last Garden Bed #4, I want to point out that the gutters still run the same direction as all of the other beds. This is the largest bed with four 10′ gutters and there wasn’t room on my layout template I created to map them out except to turn them sideways.

Starting with the back left gutter, which has a trellis, there are two cherry tomato varieties planted in five gallon buckets on either end. This is the last gutter that we managed to build a cover on last year. Just one basil and chives are planted with the cherry tomatoes in these smaller containers. Cucumbers in four buckets separated by two buckets of pole beans are also on this gutter. Radishes and climbing nasturtiums will be interplanted with these. Again, the radishes deter cucumber beetles and are a good companion for both.

The center bucket contains one yarrow and two catmint. The mint, again, deters many pests; yarrow is a strong attractor for pollinators and a great companion for melons, beans, squash and tomatoes. If you notice the gutter directly in front also has this same yarrow/catmint combination in the center between six buckets of summer squash. Catmint is said to deter squash bugs; nasturtiums deter them, too, which is why two buckets of these wonderful flowers are planted on each end of the row of squash. To try to deter the squash vine borer, chives are interplanted with the summer squash just like was mentioned with the winter squash.

The back right gutter is the last that has a trellis attached. Melons and purple hull peas fill out this row with four buckets each. Dill occupies the center bucket on this gutter as it deters a variety of pests to include aphids, spider mites and squash bugs.

The front right gutter has six more buckets of bush beans, nasturtiums on each end and a center container of sunflower and calendula. I will add here that I choose not to intermix the squash and beans on these two gutters because squash and melons have similar insect enemies, so it is wise not to plant them as close neighbors; therefore, it’s just bush beans directly in front of the melons.

There are quite a few companion plants in grow bags on the ground in this largest garden bed. You might note, too, that I have a 20 gallon grow bag with sweet potatoes in this bed. We have cleared out our original garden bed located up by our chicken coop to make way for a future new greenhouse building project. That original main bed is where we planted potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn. We did move the kiddie pool of corn to another area on our little homestead, but I didn’t want to give up on some homegrown sweet potatoes. We will see how they do in a grow bag verses an 18 gallon tub on a gutter.

Well, that wraps it up for the garden bed plantings! Be sure to follow our YouTube channel as the season progresses. You will see all of these planted out when the time arrives and I will give garden updates on how all are doing!

As always… happy gardening and have a good’en!