Companion Planting for Beginners: Pair Your Plants for a Bountiful, Chemical-Free Vegetable Garden

by Brian Lowell

If you want a vibrant, chemical-free vegetable garden, companion planting is the solution.

Did you know tomatoes produce a natural insecticide that can help protect carrots against pests? Or that planting mint near lettuce can repel slugs? Every gardener knows that the key to an abundant harvest in their vegetable garden is controlling pests and disease, while still maintaining a healthy growing environment. But it is possible to have a healthy, thriving vegetable garden without using dangerous chemicals? It is, as long as you know how to pair up the right plants. Organic gardeners have known for years that planting the right plants together is the key to minimizing pests, improving soil quality, and increasing the yield of their gardens, and almost any vegetable you can grow likely has a beneficial companion. Companion planting is the ideal way to avoid using chemicals, while still increasing the efficiency of your garden. Expert organic gardener Brian Lowell will teach you how to use plants to create a beautiful, vibrant vegetable garden that will be free of toxic chemicals.

Here's what you'll find

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

Published March 29, 2022

Reviews

[Amber Haning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giving it a full 5 stars because it vastly exceeded my expectations (which, to be fair, were very low). Long story short, I wanted a companion planting book from the library, but it was checked out so I put it on hold. When I went in to pick it up I was disappointed to find THIS was the book I’d ordered- which was not the one I’d seen there previously (ha, okay, maybe short story long). Anyway, this just seemed like a very beginner book and I figured I knew most of the information in it. It certainly humbled me. This book was filled with so much valuable content! Even if you consider companion planting to be a big hippie hoax, you will still learn a lot of great general gardening information.

For example (and I know I’m going on on way too long about some dinky little gardening book I read in 2 days, but I’m still reelin!)- every time I plant beets I convince myself I’m crazy because it seems like so many more came up than what I planted. Turns out, I was right! Each beet seed is actually a little packet of seeds with 3-4 inside. And! You can start them indoors in trays. Apparently beets are a unicorn root crop that doesn’t mind being transplanted.

This book is filled with lots of little gems like that! I’m really excited to plan my garden beds this year using information I learned in this book. Highly recommend giving it a look if you’re a plant nerd like me.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great beginner book. All the information is clear, convise, and unlike many new gardening books to the point (i.e no extraneous fluff with only a couple of sentences of content). There is enough to get you started without feeling overwhelmed. I particularly enjoyed the section on companion planting, and will likely reread that chapter. While I am no longer a beginner gardener, this book will stay on my shelf. And I highly recommend this book to new gardeners.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly what I expected, though perhaps just information on "companion planting" isn't enough for this guy to fill a book. I like the sketches of possible planting bed layouts, the way one can intermingle a variety of plants to help one another and limit competition. Photographs are the bread and butter of this sort of book, though, and I wish the author included more describing these techniques in action. Most of the photographs are just "plant X" or "bug X" or whatever.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found everything about this book interesting. I cannot wait to try out the companion planting on my garden this summer and look forward to having all kinds of blossoms, bees and veggies in the garden!

[Alice B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have the book.... and now am overthinking my veggie garden to the point where nothing is getting planted :/
Would really love for some of the recommended companion plants to be natives so I can combine my love of native plantings with my veggie garden in a helpful way.

[Trish Simonson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it is very educational and offers a variety of ideas to plant a garden that uses natural ways to keep pests away and grow as organically as possible. I definitely will be using this book to refer back to over and over again.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Lowell is an experienced home gardener and writes well. This book is very thorough and helpful with my efforts to be organic and use companion planting!

[Charisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful and comprehensive.

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent information, I need to purchase this book to keep as a reference (I borrowed from the library)

[Lori Cawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a ton of great information about what to plant with what. Brian also has a YouTube channel called Next Level Gardening. Both hus channel and his book provide EXCELLENT information!!