Companion Planting with Grapes

Grapes do well when planted near hyssop, geraniums, clover, basil, beans, oregano, peas, blackberries, garlic, chives, rosemary, tansy, and mint. You should avoid planting cabbage and/or radishes near where grapes are.

Grapes are grown for many reasons, two of those reasons being for juice and/or wine. Be sure to check out our wine presses if you are growing grapes for these reasons.

Companion Planting with Strawberries

Strawberries are a great container plant, (try growing them in a metal wash tub sometime) but they also work as a companion plant. Suggested companions for strawberries are:
Borage
Bush Beans
Caraway
Lupin
Lettuce
Onions
Spinach
Thyme

The borage helps to strengthen the strawberry against insects while the thyme deters worms. Lupin helps to attract honey bees.

When companion planting with the strawberry be sure to avoid cabbage and plants that are in the cabbage family.

Gift Ideas for Gardeners

Sometimes it is hard to know what to get someone as a gift. If you are trying to find an idea for a gift for someone who enjoys gardening, then you are in the right place, we are going to share our top 5 gardening gift ideas with you.

A flower box is a great gift idea for a flower gardener. You can also fill the box with small flower pots, seeds, or flower tools.

 A great lawn ornament will be appreciated by someone who loves spending time outdoors making their yards and homes look beautiful.

 A bucket filled with garden tools is also a great gift idea.

A Solo Hand Sprayer is a great gift for any gardener. Hand sprayers come in handy for many yard and garden applications.

Does your garden enthusiast love watching birds in his/her yard? Then a bird feeder would be a great gift.

Are you a gardener? What kind of gifts do you always love?

Companion Planting with Sunflowers

Sunflowers are quite beneficial to nearly any garden, especially those with aphid problems. If you plant sunflowers in your garden you will notice the ants moving the aphids onto them. Sunflowers are hardy enough that they can survive the aphids and keep them distracted from your other plants.

Sunflowers also attract hummingbirds, this is beneficial not only for the pollination of your garden but also because hummingbirds eat white flies.

Sunflowers can also provide shading to plants that do not need as much sunlight or are easily blighted by the sun.

If your sunflowers are not helping control your insects in your garden as much as you would like, use a garden sprayer to spray your organic pesticide onto your plants.

Companion Planting with Corn

Corn is one of the original companion plants since it is a member of the planting method known as the Three Sisters.

The Three Sisters is a combo of plants that includes: corn, beans, and squash. The corn acts as a pole for the beans to climb up and the beans provide nitrogen to the soil for the corn and squash. The squash covers the ground helping to keep moisture in the soil.

But those aren't the only companions for corn.
Amaranth, beans, cucumber, white geranium, lamb's quarters, melons, morning glory, parsley, peanuts, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, soybeans, squash, and sunflower are also companion plants for corn.

When growing corn you should keep in mind:

• Corn needs nitrogen rich soil.
• If planting rows they need to be at least 3 feet apart
• Corn needs 1 inch of water a week

 To keep your corn and gardened watered you may want to look into watering hoses and sprinklers.

What are your tips for growing corn?

Radish Companion Planting

 

Radishes make great companions for radish, beet, bush beans, pole beans, carrots, chervil, cucumber, lettuce, melons, nasturtium, parsnip, peas, spinach, and squash.

Radishes can help to deter cucumber beetles and rust flies.

They can help protect squash from squash borers.

Radishes can also help corn by fighting corn borers, but you must let the radishes go to seed.

Radishes also lure leafminers away from spinach plants. The leafminers will damage radish leaves, but this does not stop the radish roots from growing. 

Radishes also make great container plants. So if you only have room for some flower boxes, you can still grow radishes.

Companion Planting with Potatoes

There are many plant companion settings. Plants that help one another out by promoting healthier growth, warding off certain pests, and helping keep the soil's pH at a healthy level for the plants around them. Let's look at the Potato's best companion plants:

The potato is helped the most by the horseradish plant. Horseradish helps to increase the disease resistance of the potato plant. Beans, cabbage, and corn help the potato to grow better. The Colorado potato beetle is repelled by tansy, nasturtium, coriander, and catnip.

Potatoes are a great food to grow in your garden as they complement nearly any meal that you can think of. They also make great plants to grow in small amounts of space. There is a guide on growing 100 lbs of potatoes in just 4 square feet of space at: http://tipnut.com/grow-potatoes/ be sure you have a large harvest basket if growing this many potatoes!