ORGANIC GARDENING. Michael Littlewood

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1 ORGANIC GARDENING Companion Planting Chart CHART COMPANION PLANTING One in a series of beautifully illustrated charts, guides and calendars providing considerable information that will prove very useful for the organic gardener throughout the year. All are produced by an environmentally friendly printing proccess, using paper from sustainable sources, and packed in biodegradable tubes. This excellent durable colour chart provides an easy quick reference to 108 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs, showing which plants are beneficial and which are antagonistic when grown together. The size allows all the names to be quickly and easily read when hanging on the kitchen or garden shed wall. Information on the reverse side is given about all the many advantages of Companion Planting, helping gardeners to work in harmony with nature and save money too. Both sides have a wipe clean surface. Size: 72cm wide x 52cm deep. Only 9.95 plus p&p. For further information;

2 BUDDING BUDDIES by Ursula Buchanan We live in a technocratic age. Despite, or perhaps because of that, we can be as credulous as medieval alchemists. We are fascinated by astrology and other pseudo-sciences, and we like nothing better than a suspected UFO sighting or a reported corn circle. So does companion- planting come into this category? The jury is still out - although the idea, if not the name, has been around since Adam delved and Eve span. Companion - planting is the putting together of different plant species to achieve some extra beneficial effect, such as the increase of growth or the inhibition of weeds and pests. Many gardeners who have never heard of the expression will have discovered for themselves that broad beans do not always grow well next to onions, that wormwood seems to deter many pests in the vegetable garden, and that whitefly are less common on greenhouse tomato plants if marigolds are planted in the grow-bags. A dose of healthy scepticism may be required when faced with the more exotic claims of companion planting proponents, but it undoubtedly has appeal. Much in gardening is inexplicable or, more correctly, has not yet been explained. It is easy to believe that those pests which find their hosts by smell can be deterred by a stronger one (as when onions and carrots are grown in parallel rows to confuse the carrot fly), and it is a widely held belief that root and leaf secretions affect plant growth. I know from my own experience that walnut leaves, for example, inhibit the vigour of some plants and, if enough people tell me so, I can accept that fennel roots will do the same. And it is because beneficial hover-flies, which catch greenfly and whitefly, are attracted to open flowers, that it makes sense to put marigolds next to our tomatoes. Scientific evidence is hard to come by. According to the Henry Doubleday now Garden Organic Research Association, one of the few companionships fully researched is that of onions and carrots. That does not mean, that a gardeners observations are not valid. And when we are so reluctant to use pesticides these days, we can ill afford to leave any stone, however oddly shaped, unturned. The Sunday Telegraph Magazine Post Office Box 25, South Petherton, Somerset TA13 5WZ Telephone & Fax michael@ecodesignscape.co.uk Web:

3 LANDSCAPE DESIGNER FLI FSGD COMPANION PLANTING CHART REVIEWS 6 George & Crown Cottages Church Street Hinton St George Somerset TA17 8SD Telephone & Fax: (01460) michael@ecodesignscape.co.uk Web:

4 Dauncey's Mill, Uley Glousestershire COMPANION PLANTING CHART Being a very keen gardener but a complete novice when it comes to placing beneficial plants among my edible crop, s Companion Planting Chart is a breath of fresh air and an extremely useful tool. As well as being beautifully illustrated (a work of art in itself), the content and detail he includes is quite remarkable. At a glance, I can see what to plant with what, more importantly, what not to put together, which plants attracts bees and insects, which improves the soil and which ones repel or deters pests. It also tells me which type of plant it is e.g. herb, fruit, veg etc. as well as its possible uses. Beginner or experienced gardener, I can t recommend this chart strongly enough. Debs Cole Organic Gardener January 2014

5 Organic Gardening Magazine COMPANION PLANTING CHART The whole subject of companion planting has always struck me as absolutely fascinating. Part science, part folklore, part plain common or garden pudding proof, it s seen by many as, if nothing else a crucial element in the organic gardener s armoury of pest control techniques. Now, the sustainable landscape designer, has come up with his latest companion planting chart. Attractively illustrated by Valerie Baines, and A2 size just the right size to fix to the back door it s a very thorough and comprehensive diagrammatic listing of which plant is companionable with which and which isn t. Plants are marked accordingly to type and usage, as well as by their companion category: e.g. soil improver, or insect repeller or attractor. Geoffrey Bevan Editor March 1999

6 Dauncey's Mill, Uley Glousestershire COMPANION PLANTING CHART Being a very keen gardener but a complete novice when it comes to placing beneficial plants among my edible crop, s Companion Planting Chart is a breath of fresh air and an extremely useful tool. As well as being beautifully illustrated (a work of art in itself), the content and detail he includes is quite remarkable. At a glance, I can see what to plant with what, more importantly, what not to put together, which plants attracts bees and insects, which improves the soil and which ones repel or deters pests. It also tells me which type of plant it is e.g. herb, fruit, veg etc. as well as its possible uses. Beginner or experienced gardener, I can t recommend this chart strongly enough. Debs Cole Organic Gardener January 2014