Companion Planting

For companion planting to work well, you have to forget conventional separate flowerbeds and kitchen gardens, and combine your vegetables and flowers.

This table shows which herbs to plant where. Some keep pests away from surrounding plants, because their scent acts as a deterrent to certain insects and attracts others. Others enrich the soil and help to bring minerals and nutrients to the surface.

HERB	WHERE	WHY
Borage	Near strawberries and tomatoes	Attracts bees, which help to improve crop yield by pollinating plants
Chamomile	Near sick plants	Acts as a tonic and encourages growth.
Comfrey	Flower borders and vegetable garden.	Tap roots bring minerals to the surface of the soil.
Dill and Fennel	Amongst vegetables	Attracts hoverflies, which then eat aphids.
Garlic and Chives	Under roses	Keeps away aphids and black spot
Nasturtium	Amongst vegetables	Attracts aphids away from the vegetables. Also repels ants and whitefly.
Sage	Amongst cabbages	Repels cabbage white butterfly
Summer Savoury	Amongst vegetables and roses	Deters blackfly
Tagetes (African & French Marigolds)	Amongst tomatoes and vegetables	Deters aphids and whitefly through scent and by attracting hoverflies. Roots secrete chemicals which kill ground elder and bindwood. The root also stops eelworm from recognising their host plants, which include potatoes, tulips and roses.
Valerian	Amongst vegetables	Stimulates earthworms which helps to boost plant growth.
Wormwood, Hyssop and Rue	Vegetable gardens and flower borders	Acts as insect deterrents.

Eve Morgan