Companion planting

Companion planting sounds so cute. Like friends who get on, or don’t. In my garden, everything has to get on, or it is pulled out!

How over-crowded is over-crowded? Well, my motto is, don’t hold back. Providing you start with good soil with good compost, you can stick in plenty of plants, and thin them out later (eat them!). A Vegepod, or covered raised bed with its own watering system and a net covering, is great for beginners. But, it is also handy for plants you want to protect from birds and white butterflies, such as strawberries and brassicas. My Vegepod lid blew off in a terrible storm – I found it caught in a tree further down the garden. My first thought? Thank goodness for the tree or who knows where it may have landed. The lid is now redundant on the Vegepod as it is skewwhiff (cute word!), but it is proving very handy to keep pesky pests off seedlings in other raised beds in the garden (pheasants!). It is amazing what you can cram into a raised bed like this. The secret lies in good soil, loose and aerated, with plenty of good compost dug in. And, regular watering – by that I mean a good soaking once in awhile rather than daily ‘guilty’ sprinkles. All shallow watering does is bring the thirsty roots up to the surface for a drink, which, ultimately, weakens the plant.