Companion planting garden layouts how to#

The plant holds the nutrients in its leaves and stems. Dynamic accumulators: this is a plant, like comfrey, that has a taproot to mine nutrients from deep in the soil.The nitrogen is released into the soil when the plant dies back or is cut back and the plant material is left in the garden to decompose. Nitrogen-fixing plants: this is a plant, like peas and beans, that can convert atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form.

Highly fragrant plants can also help confuse non-beneficial insects and detract them from the crops they usually prey on.

Insectary plants: this is a plant, like yarrow and borage, that is highly fragrant and produces a lot of nectar or pollen to attract beneficial insects like lacewing, hummingbirds, bees and other pollinators.

An ideal polyculture, or companion plant grouping, will include as many of the following plants as possible: In a polyculture (also called “guilds” in the permaculture world), plants are intentionally grouped together to maximize the benefits that each one can offer. Peas, which grew on the poles, died back toward the middle of summer as the other crops filled in Plants to include in a polyculture: It’s a win-win-win and an ideal polyculture grouping! The squash, which sprawls along the ground, acts as a living mulch to shade the plant roots, retain moisture and choke out weeds. The corn provides a structure for the beans to grow on, and the beans fix nitrogen to help nourish the other plants, which are heavy feeders. The Three Sisters plant grouping includes corn, squash and pole beans. You may even be familiar with the “Three Sisters” garden. Historically, Native Americans perfected this method of planting. You may have come to know it by the more common term: “companion planting”. It’s the agricultural practice of growing different crops together in order to maximize the benefits of each plant.

Polyculture literally means “many growing”.

Companion planting garden layouts how to#

The charts are helpful, buuuut… when you try to actually piece all those plants together into a functional polyculture, it gets really complicated and confusing! So, I’ve taken a lot of the work out of the equation for both you (and me!) by creating a bunch of companion plant groupings!īut first, let’s talk a little about what companion planting is, how to design companion plant groupings, and why it’s gonna rock the socks off your garden! What is companion planting (aka: “polyculture”)? When you google “companion planting”, you’ll find endless amounts of charts, but very few examples of actual companion plant groupings.

This week, I wanted to share something new with you that I am super excited about: Companion Plant Groupings! Last week, I sent out an email and shared my actual garden planning spreadsheets with all the plants we are growing this year! FYI – get on my email list if you aren’t yet because I send out goodies like this periodically! I spend a lot of time and energy planning out my garden, but I think it’s only really worthwhile if I get to share it with others! We are a community, after all! Interested in using companion plants for your vegetable garden but overwhelmed and not sure where to start? I’ve made it easy by creating 25 companion plant groupings that are ready for you to use in your vegetable garden this year!