You've probably read about Companion Plantings in your vegetable gardens. Although there is not a lot of science behind it, it certainly does make sense to give certain plants more space and others that can be more densely planted. Plus many studies have shown how plants support each other more than we could have ever imagined!
But companion plantings’ teachings and benefits extend beyond your lettuce and tomato plants, with similar benefits to your landscaping trees and shrubs!
The Garden Buddy System:
Everyone does better with a friend and plenty of support!
Based on the Three Sisters rule, where corn, squash, and beans are planted together - the corn supports the beans, the squash cools the roots of the corn and keeps the soil moist, while the roots of the beans add nitrogen to support the corn and squashes growth! All three helping each other.
Plants work together and even communicate with each other in their very own way! Sometimes literally support others by acting as a trellis to climb on or provide shade and protection for each other.
Using Companion Plants In The Landscaping
Create a support system around your main garden ornamentals with Companion Plants that aid your landscape's growth, discourage pests, and help keep everything growing beautifully!
You can use thorny Companion plants as natural barriers in your landscape, or low-growing weed-blocking groundcovers to act as garden fringe and edging.
Living Groundcover
Companion plants act as living mulch or ground cover that has numerous benefits for your plant’s roots! An underplanting of mat-forming plants helps:
- Keep roots cool and protected
- Reduces soil evaporation
- Blocks weeds
- Acting as a buffer zone between your ornamentals and the mower or weed whacker
- Easing the transition between lawn and tree
Natural Barriers
The volatile oils in many leaves and plants that aren’t tasty, or sharp leaves, thorns, and spines, keep rabbits, pests, and deer from nibbling on other plants that are near them.
- Geraniums, Marigolds, and Herbs repel Aphids, Japanese Beetles, and other pests.
- Many Herbs attract beneficial insects, or predatory bugs that eat the ones that are pestering you, such as Praying Mantis, Lacewings, and Ladybugs!
- Thorny plants act as physical barriers to hungry deer and rabbits.
- Dense-growing smaller plants create a physical barrier that keeps your ‘prettier’ ornamentals out of reach of deer.
Improve Your Soil
Growing plants in the Pea/Legume family and Mustard family add vital nutrients to the soil or naturally fix nitrogen, enriching the soil they grow in and benefitting everything around them! Marigolds and plants in the Legume family also attract earthworms, which further improve soil health! This helps everything growing in that area!
Some nurseries are using Daikon Radishes help to break up soil compaction as deep as 24", and improve soil structure. Other deeply rooted plants and plants with tap roots help churn soil and break up the ground.
Using arborist's wood chips will help maintain soil moisture, reduce weeds, and also improve soil structure as the mulch breaks down. Always put the mulch on top of the soil and do not incorporate it into the soil.
Finishing Touches
Flowering groundcover plants and small clumping perennials act as finishing touches and as facer plantings to provide a clean, polished look to your landscape
But Companion Plants go further, not only completing the look and improving the world around them, but they can also extend your season of color and bloom!
Ferns and Hosta seem to be go-to plants for underplanting because of their amazing foliage and lush green they lend to any garden location! The fine texture of Ferns and coarse leaves of Hosta perfectly accent almost any larger tree or shrub!
You’ll enhance and highlight your main plantings by setting the stage and drawing the eye to your garden’s crown jewels!
Companion Planting Pals For Rose Bushes
Roses of all kinds, always look amazing when included in your garden! But they come with their fair share of bothersome pests.
Combine Roses with Companion Plants that enhance their beauty, while hiding their bare stems, and protect the crown while driving away pests that can damage your blooms! Dressing them up with a ring of underplantings that not only helps them grow stronger but also improves how they look is always a bonus!
Most Roses love a good trim to keep the bushy to the ground, but some of the taller more aggressive ones will benefit from underplanting with a facer plant. Combine Roses with low-growing plants that will cover the leggy bottoms on plants that did not get cut back in early spring.
Roses look best when underplanted with a lacy skirting of plants with silvery, variegated, or dark foliage. An extra special touch is to include plants with airy blooms that look like soft clouds around the base of their canes.
You can also choose aromatic plants to help ward off Aphids and other insects, plus may even prevent black spot fungus! Aromatic plants are also great at warding off deer and rabbits!
- Russian Sage
- Hyssops
- Perennial Salvia
- Catmints
- Catnips
- Garlic and Onions (Edible and Ornamental)
- Herbs of all kinds!
- Scented or Perennial Geraniums
- Annuals such as Marigolds
Roses love good air circulation so be sure to give them a bit of space between the facer plants and the Roses so they don't rob the plants of food either.
Great Evergreen Sidekicks
Evergreen leaves and needles falling to the ground create slightly acidic conditions wherever they grow. Evergreens present a special challenge for companion planting, and often, older Evergreens need facer plants to hide their bare legs, yet thrive in this acidic environment, so depending on the size of your plants, you have a world of choices in various heights!
Many plants happily bask in the shade offered by larger shrubs and trees, while also thriving in the acidic soil.
- Blue Hydrangeas
- Japanese Pachysandra, also known as Spurge
- Sweet Box
- Azalea/Rhododendron
- Lower Growing Holly
- Perennials - Astilbe, Ferns, Coral Bells & Sweet Woodruff
- Blueberries
- Herbs like: Lemon Balm, Mints, Oregano, Rosemary, & Thyme
- Garlic & Bunching Onion
You can even choose other Evergreens as groundcovers, or perennials that thrive in the same conditions. With a bonus of contrasting foliage!
Hydrangea, Lilacs & Large Shrub Teammates:
With the wide range of flowering shrubs to choose from, you’ll find an equally wide range of companion plants to boost these gorgeous plants, while extending your garden's bloom season! You could just choose dwarf versions of your shrubs to plant around the base, or go ahead with some contrast!
These all thrive in equally similar soil and environments as your bushes, fringing the bases of larger shrubs and hiding bare stems.
- Solomons Seal
- Lily of the Valley fragrant white flowers
- Ornamental Grasses
- Liriope
- Euonymus Wintercreeper
- Gro-Lo Sumac
- Hosta
- Coral Bells
- Ferns
All are fantastic underplantings and groundcover as well as spreading for a lush pop of color and greenery. Compliment these shrubs as well as look lovely beneath these limbs.
Fruit Trees & Fruit Bush Allies
Any perennial that blooms early and has long-lasting flowers is fantastic to plant around your fruiting plants, as these draw in bees and beneficial insects to assist in pollinating your fruit!
- Perennial Salvia
- Echinacea - bright pink flowers!
- Coreopsis
- Aromatic Herbs of all kinds
In areas where deer and other critters may be eating your trees and shrubs, plant strongly fragranced plants they dislike, aiding in repelling them before they do any damage. Try underplanting with:
- Azaleas
- Lavender - these purple flowers benefit both you and your plants!
- Salvia
- Members of the Mint family
- Marigolds
- Thorny plants like Rugosa Roses and Barberry
Flowering Trees Cheer Squad
Flowering ornamental trees of all sizes also benefit from plants around their bases. Try an underplanting of spring bulbs to help bring spring blooms to your landscape sooner. The later emerging foliage of your tree or shrub will then shade the fading foliage of your bulbs for the summer!
A carpeting of low-growing foliage or flowering plants around the base reduces mower damage to the bark by acting as a buffer zone, reduces evaporation, hides fallen debris, and lends a polished look to your landscape! It’s a win-win!
Along with the usual perennials and groundcover plants listed above, other plants that are drought-tolerant, fast-growing, carpet the area nicely, and have long-lasting greenery throughout the year include:
- Vinca
- Hosta
- Ajuga
- Dianthus
- Sedum
- Low-Growing Shrubs
Final Companion Planting Tips:
Choose plants that share your target's soil, sun, and growing conditions, for a match made in heaven! Test soil pH to ensure your companions will be as happy as their partner plants! Plus ensure all plants involved will require similar watering needs.
Install your new plants with the lifelong symbiotic relationship that Nature Hills Root Booster has with plant roots! Helping them take up water easier, break down nutrients, and encourage growth - especially after transplanting!
Don’t forget to intersperse a few spring-flowering bulbs around your plantings both large and small! They don’t take up much space and appreciate the later emerging foliage to shade their bulbs once the summer heat kicks in.
Don’t Grow Alone!
By creating a mutually beneficial habitat around your landscape to draw in pollinators, repel pests, and enhance your soil, you’ll create an environment that works for you - instead of against you!
Plants are like people, and always do best when supported by a circle of friends! Provide some companionship for your garden and you’ll both reap the rewards!
Happy Companion Planting!
