Just like people, garden vegetable plants grow best when they’re with friends! If you struggle with pests, critters, or even want a better crop, companion gardening can help! For instance, did you know that bee balm and mint planted near tomatoes will enhance the flavor?
Gardeners have been using companion planting for centuries as a natural approach to harnessing each plant’s unique qualities to mutually benefit each other. There are hundreds of combinations to try (or avoid) so knowing the family of your plant is a good start (for example, broccoli and cabbage are from the same family so they have the same likes and dislikes). Als
o, knowing your garden helps determine the problems that need fixing (for instance, not all gardens have trouble with cutworms). The easiest approach to companion gardening is to plant flowers and veggies in a haphazard way. No long rows, no big patches of one plant, just all jumbled together in your plot. This confuses insects and critters as they’re looking for their favorite treat and effectively camouflages plants from their enemies!
A little more specific approach depends on your garden so we’ll get you started with just a few of our favorites. It’s a great idea to consult a thorough gardening guide or books like the Farmer’s Almanac and look up the plants you want to include.
Here are five companion ideas for your garden:
Repel insects. Plant chives at the base of your rose bushes to repel aphids or radishes near your cucumbers to deter beetles.
Maintain soil health. Corn is a notorious user of nitrogen so plant beans alongside the corn to help protect and replenish the soil.
Provide a structure for climbing vines. Plant vining cucumbers next to sweetcorn or popcorn. The two plants will not compete for root space, the vines have support from the corn stalks, and the cukes will be done producing by the time you need to pick the corn.
Shade tender plants or create shade to keep weed growth down. Plant spinach or arugula in between rows of onion sets. The greens grow early and deter weed growth while the onions mature after the greens have been harvested.
Friends and enemies. Beans like cabbage, carrots, pea, or marigolds but hate onions or garlic. Cucumbers like cabbage and tomatoes but hate sage. Lettuce loves beets, carrots, and chives. Tomatoes love cukes, parsley, and peppers but not kohlrabi, mature dill, or corn.
Tip: By deterring bad bugs and building soil health naturally, you’ll also decrease your garden’s dependence on pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizer.
Always wear gloves – all parts of the pepper are hot but the inside membranes and juices are the hottest. Even with gloves on, don’t touch your face, eyes, or nose. Keep milk on hand, too, as it will kill the burn much faster than water. Along with heat, each pepper has a unique flavor and color. Bell peppers have sweet and meaty flesh and are perfect for crunch and color; rubbed with olive oil and grilled whole; or sautéed and added to tomato sauce. Their sweet flavor and pretty colors only intensify if left on the vine to turn from green to yellow to orange to red. Chile peppers, too, come in a wide range of colors and the less hot versions can be made into lovely relishes, pickled with onions, or added to burgers or shishkabobs.
The beauty you’ve worked so hard to create outdoors can easily be turned into gorgeous wall art, all for a fraction of the cost of decor store prints. And all you need is one good digital photo of the one-of-a-kind subject matter right outside your backdoor! Whether you have an expensive multi-lens camera or a simple smart phone, you can freeze frame that beauty with just a couple clicks. Getting a good shot doesn’t require advanced skills. Just remember these simple garden photography basics:
Take your time. Spend a chunk of time watching the activity in your garden and you’ll eventually notice birds, butterflies, and bees that stop by. These make great shots – just use your “sports” mode and snap a bunch as they flit around the blooms. (And by the way, sitting in your garden is a great stress reliever!).
All that hard work you’ve put into your flowerbeds, planters, and patio pots really deserves a spotlight, don’t you think? From candles to strings of light to unique solar light stakes, creative outdoor lighting can turn your patio into a warm and welcoming extension of your living room. And you don’t need to be an electrician to turn on the lights! It’s easy and inexpensive to light up every nook and cranny of your garden and enjoy your yard long past sundown.
We all know how busy life gets and we sometimes let the weeds take over or miss a day of watering. And we know this hurts our plants. But did you know it actually helps the pests and diseases? Big, bountiful, healthy plants (that are well-watered and maintained) actually keep weed growth down and are more resistant to diseases. Struggling plants will give weeds a foothold and attract opportunistic pests. If you find diseased or pest-attacked plants, dispose of them away from your own compost pile and clean your garden tools with a mild bleach solution.
If it flowers, butterflies of all stripes will be happy to visit your gardens but did you know there is one plant that Monarchs cannot live without? Common Milkweed is a necessity for Monarch caterpillars. While Monarch butterflies will feed on many different flowering plants, they only lays eggs on Milkweed because it is the ONLY plant the caterpillar eats until it goes into the chrysalis. In fact, the chemical compounds in this plant protect the caterpillars from getting eaten! Milkweed contains a cardiac poison that caterpillars are immune to but makes them taste bad – and become poisonous – to predators. Over time predators have come to see the unique coloration of the Monarch caterpillar as a warning and leave it alone!
During summer and with enough habitat along the way, four generations of Monarchs will emerge, each one flying further North. But without Milkweed corridors, Monarchs must fly greater distances before laying eggs and consequently reproduce less and less over each summer. Herbicidal control and increased agricultural land use has eliminated much of the U.S. milkweed, creating a critical turning point in the Monarch population. So much so that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is considering including the Monarch Butterfly on its Endangered Species List. 
Flickering light adds so much to your outdoor spaces and these gorgeous, long-burning jar candles do double-duty because they also repel mosquitoes! And more is better when it comes to this decorating item . . . choose the scent you love, they all work to drive biting insects from your party. Or combine colors and scents to match your patio décor. Another bonus? These candles have screw-on lids so when the party’s over, you can close them up to protect from rainwater.