Customer Reviews

Companion Planting (Rodale's Successful Organic Gardening)

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I'm a Calfornia Master Gardener, and I use this book every season when I plant my summer and winter veggie gardens. I've given it as a gift on numerous occasions.

According to Rodale, "Companion planting is the technique of combining two plants for a particular purpose." That purpose is usually to attract good bugs, repel bad bugs and provide other beneficial conditons so that you produce the highest quality and amount of vegetables.

Each vegetable includes a section on allies (good bugs), companion plants, enemies (bag bugs), and growing guidelines. For example, each year when I plant tomatoes, I also plant marigolds to control nematodes. I plant onions with my potatoes to discourage potatoe beetles. I don't plant onions next to peas, beans, or sage.

The book also includes sections on companion planting basics, interplanting, creating a planting plan, planting companions, and caring for companions.

It seems to elude me any book that puts proper companion plants together or gives illustrated garden plans and how to implement them. The first 2/3rd of the book gave great advice I already knew and then the last third book gets into companion planting. Though most of them are printed as "Many believe "blah" wards off flies, but no research shows any truth." Plus many of the ones that include companions that are supposed to be univeral amony brassicas, trees, or nightshades aren't listed individually under that name. Such as Garlic and onions around Peach trees aren't even listed. Will no one have a properly edited and LISTED together guide to companion planting. The best thing I found was lists of plants for beneficial insects / repellants on Wikipedia which Wiki usually doesn't give good info, but in this case gave lists and better info than most books on companion planting. Anyone know a better companion book, please comment and let me know...?