Companion Planting: Part 1
A number of you have shared an interest in learning more about which plants we are planting together here in the beds that we have transitioned to hosting perennials and self-sowing annuals. These are rich, multi-variety beds that fill out and bloom much earlier than traditional monoculture field annual planting here.
If you’re new have a look at the post about New Bed Prep. Our climate is harsh, our season is short, and our fields are wet through spring. We’re learning how to grow smarter and extend our season by embracing perennial beds so we don’t have to wait for the field to dry out to get our season moving right along. And- we can plant or nurture annuals in these beds, too.
This approach allows us to plant earlier in the spring, harvest both earlier and later in our season, and focus on the varieties that are happy to grow here with less effort from us and less strain on our bodies. I think there is a measurable amount of stress taken off our plate, too. We know we will have blooming plants. We know the timing will be right for their health as the seasons evolve.
In a moment, I’m going to share some of our favorite interplanting combinations. This list is ever-changing and growing as we learn and observe and experiment with different plant groupings. We’ll have a whole new list for you with a new round of planting we’re doing spring into even more beds that we are converting to this style of growing. So stay tuned for Part 2 of this post!
Before you jump to apply these combinations or work on designing new beds of your own, here are some things that we take into consideration when setting up ours. Your interplanting combinations need to take into consideration more than just which plants look nice together or fit well next to each other.
We consider the following when we’re thinking about what will work well together:
soil structure
light/shade throughout the day as the sun passes,
height
spread
pests
disease
bloom window
Your best interplanting choices are going to be the right ones for your farm, and while our plans may help - you may need to make some adjustments based on your climate, soil, and bed locations. And my biggest piece of advice is not to think about your choices as one-time “make it or break it” decisions. If some choices don’t work out well you can always move the plants if you have to.
Soil Structure:
Before we choose which plants will go where, we consider what the soil is like in the area where we are planting. That leads all the choices that follow.
Zone Appropriate:
Then we need plants that are appropriate to our zone. We choose our perennials carefully and we observe which ones thrive and figure out how to propagate them. We also look for perennials and annuals that re-sow or can be direct sown.
Light/Shade:
How will light pass over your bed? Is your bed along a building or near a row of trees?
We consider the orientation of our beds to determine where to place taller plants. We can choose to organize plants so that they receive lots of sun, or so that they are actually interplanted to create shade for other varieties.
For example, we may plant shorter sun-loving perennials on the south side of a bed, flowering shrubs or taller herbaceous perennials in the middle of the bed, and shade-loving plants on the north side.
We’ll also consider available light to the plants throughout the season. Sun-loving bulbs and spring perennials like hellebores are very happy growing and blooming in areas that will later be fully shaded when larger plants have leafed out.
Plant height:
We choose plants that will work well together in terms of height. We try to use the height of the plants to their advantage. Taller plants may be appropriate to plant in the middle of a row or on one side, depending on the plants that will accompany them and how the sun passes through the day.
We’ll often plant useful ground covers or low-growing perennials along the edges of our beds so that we don’t have huge/tall plants encroaching on our walking space. This may seem obvious, but we find that shorter plants are often overlooked by farmer florists and they have some of the highest value when used as ingredients in quick design projects with high-profit margins (like boutonnieres and corsages).
Plant Spread:
We try to plan for the spread of our plants, but we also keep the following in mind:
Our plants are not going to grow as large as they would as landscaping plants. We’re going to be picking and pruning from them.
We won’t be planting them as far apart as recommended by landscapers.
Our plants will take time to fill in. What can we grow between them in the meantime or for the long run?
How do plants spread over the season? What can we plant to take advantage soil and sun before the mid and late season plants leaf out?
Have an aggressive spreader? Which other plants can stand up to it?
Pests:
We take care not to plant companion plants that are prone to attracting certain pests near other valuable plants that may be susceptible to those pests. For example- aphids love young rose buds. I’m not going to plant mums next to my roses. To the extent that we can control things we do.
Disease:
As with pests, we try to avoid planting varieties together that are going to spread diseases easily. We’ll also avoid planting varieties near each other which will lead to disease issues due to lack of ventilation. For example, we are careful about the plants we choose to put near peonies because we don’t want to increase the possibility for botrytis to develop.
Bloom Window:
Lastly, we consider how bloom windows can help us create beds that are blooming all or most of the season. We consider early-blooming plants, mid-season, and late bloomers. For us- the emphasis is on the shoulder seasons. We really need to learn to take advantage of those plants that will bloom before our frosts are over and after the frosts start in the fall.
Combinations that work for us:
Well-draining soil, sunny location:
Daffodils, Muscari, leucojum
Peonies
Heliopsis (airy, taller perennial, disease resistant)
Nigella (direct sown)
Hens n’ Chicks (perennial, self-propagating groundcover for sale as potted plants and use in personal flowers)
Moist soil, sunny location:
Pennstemon
Baptisia
German Statice
Pansies
Hollyhocks
Moist soil, sunny location:
Lupine
Baptisia
Cupid’s Dart
Dill
Chinese forget me nots
Thyme
Moist, wet soil, sunny location:
Yarrow
Winterberry
Viburnum
Perennial asters (can bloom late, after frost)
Well draining soil, sunny location:
Hyacinth
Delphinium (can bloom late, after frost)
Astilbe (shaded by delphiniums and sedum)
Columbine (shaded by Delphiniums and sedum)
Well draining soil, sunny location
Roses
Lavender
Baby’s breath
Scabiosa Fama series
Kirigami Oregano
Normal / clay soil, sunny/partly sunny location
Tall garden phlox
Verbena bonariensis
Monk’s hood
Bush clematis
Fall anemone
What sorts of combinations have you enjoyed/found to work well and in which kind of setting? Please share your questions and ideas in the comments.
