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Companion Plants and How to Use Them
This book is a pioneering work on one of the least understood aspects of ecology - the curious phenomenon by which particular plants thrive in the presence of certain species and do poorly in the company of others. The observation of these relationships stimulates imagination and sensitiveness of observation to other living relationships and thereby opens new doors to a further understanding of the world of nature. EVERY gardener and farmer could benefit from having Companion Plants!
96 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 19, 2012
This book guides my garden.
January 24, 2023
ANISE: (pimpinella anisum)
Anise seed will germinate and grow better if sown with coriander seeds. Formation of the seed itself in the anise plant is strengthened by the presence of coriander. (See wormwood)
Neat, tidy, unadorned, action driven prose outlines many principles of gardening without chemicals using natural methods.
There are entries on crop rotation (heavy feeders first etc), basil, tomatoes, caraway, cucumbers, dandelion, cows, etc. There are five pages on chrystallisaton which I have never understood.
Companion planting books are everywhere now. It's not so much a niche anymore but another layer of the body of knowledge broadly known as gardening.
This book has a lot of sentiment attached to it. It was my father's. That means little except that it was one of only a handful of books my father owned. And since it's in English, he never read it. Instead, he would ask me a question and I'd consult the companion planting guide and he would try whatever they recommend. I guess we could call that companion reading.
I wonder after reading this book and doing plenty of gardening myself, how many people realise that its origins are in some whacky ideas like esoteric religion and theosophy, which may also be the origins of biodynamics. Some of the ideas are less scientific but mystical.
My father already knew much of this, he planted and grafted by the rising moon. There probably is a science behind it. And there is not much nonsense in the idea that plants relate to each other by interdependence, some might say synergy, or symbiosis. One plant will repel a certain insect that will devastate another and so in food gardening there is a logic to planting them side by side. But these dependancies also happen at a chemical level of nutrient interrelationship: a plant will add nitrogen for another, potassium, etc, or use less of one or another making the limited resource available for the one that needs it most. Clever, eh.
My father also knew about composting. Our house always had a place where compost was made. Compost for biodynamic gardeners comes close to a religious practice. And we don't really need to know how it happens, as long as you end up with humic acid which has more value after the composting of organic matter than any factory made nutrient. You see, compost holds water, promotes the absorption of nutrients that the plant actually needs, rather than force feeding with commercial fertilisers the way a French farmer turns a living goose liver into fois gras.
Feed the soil, not the plant. It's a slogan I often hear these days, but it's not in this book, but it could be if it was gimmicky. There isn't an entry for 'soil', since many entries recommend that it's all about the soil. There is an entry called "symbiosis" and another on "stinging nettle" which is a gem in the garden: it helps neighbouring plants to grow more resistant to spoiling.
Wormwood (artemisia absinthum)
... Gardeners may have noticed that plants growing close to wormwood do not thrive... Wormwood tea sprayed on the ground in autumn will discourage slugs...
But under the wormwood entry, there's no mention of anise and coriander.
Anise seed will germinate and grow better if sown with coriander seeds. Formation of the seed itself in the anise plant is strengthened by the presence of coriander. (See wormwood)
Neat, tidy, unadorned, action driven prose outlines many principles of gardening without chemicals using natural methods.
There are entries on crop rotation (heavy feeders first etc), basil, tomatoes, caraway, cucumbers, dandelion, cows, etc. There are five pages on chrystallisaton which I have never understood.
Companion planting books are everywhere now. It's not so much a niche anymore but another layer of the body of knowledge broadly known as gardening.
This book has a lot of sentiment attached to it. It was my father's. That means little except that it was one of only a handful of books my father owned. And since it's in English, he never read it. Instead, he would ask me a question and I'd consult the companion planting guide and he would try whatever they recommend. I guess we could call that companion reading.
I wonder after reading this book and doing plenty of gardening myself, how many people realise that its origins are in some whacky ideas like esoteric religion and theosophy, which may also be the origins of biodynamics. Some of the ideas are less scientific but mystical.
My father already knew much of this, he planted and grafted by the rising moon. There probably is a science behind it. And there is not much nonsense in the idea that plants relate to each other by interdependence, some might say synergy, or symbiosis. One plant will repel a certain insect that will devastate another and so in food gardening there is a logic to planting them side by side. But these dependancies also happen at a chemical level of nutrient interrelationship: a plant will add nitrogen for another, potassium, etc, or use less of one or another making the limited resource available for the one that needs it most. Clever, eh.
My father also knew about composting. Our house always had a place where compost was made. Compost for biodynamic gardeners comes close to a religious practice. And we don't really need to know how it happens, as long as you end up with humic acid which has more value after the composting of organic matter than any factory made nutrient. You see, compost holds water, promotes the absorption of nutrients that the plant actually needs, rather than force feeding with commercial fertilisers the way a French farmer turns a living goose liver into fois gras.
Feed the soil, not the plant. It's a slogan I often hear these days, but it's not in this book, but it could be if it was gimmicky. There isn't an entry for 'soil', since many entries recommend that it's all about the soil. There is an entry called "symbiosis" and another on "stinging nettle" which is a gem in the garden: it helps neighbouring plants to grow more resistant to spoiling.
Wormwood (artemisia absinthum)
... Gardeners may have noticed that plants growing close to wormwood do not thrive... Wormwood tea sprayed on the ground in autumn will discourage slugs...
But under the wormwood entry, there's no mention of anise and coriander.
September 7, 2012
This was a very helpful book to anyone who is a dedicated gardener. I found it to be simply put and a lot easier to follow than many other companion plating books.
One downfall is that it's such an old book that purchasing it would be expensive. So I would just recommend checking your library.
One downfall is that it's such an old book that purchasing it would be expensive. So I would just recommend checking your library.
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