Читать книгу The Allotment Book - Andi Clevely - Страница 31

Few plants grow in isolation, and an allotment is as much a community of interactive plants as any natural ecosystem. Plants can influence the welfare of their neighbours for good (symbiosis) or bad (allelopathy): beans do not grow well next to onions, rue suppresses growth and very little thrives under a walnut tree; on the other hand, legumes help root crops to grow well, chives can ward off carrot root flies, and elderberries will encourage soil organisms to decompose organic material.

Crop rotation is one obvious form of companion planting, grouping plants with similar needs together. Another example is growing flowers attractive to pollinators or pest predators close to a vulnerable crop: poached egg plant (Limnanthes) flowers early and attracts hoverflies that can control aphids on broad beans, or you could grow a sacrificial alternative host like nasturtiums to lure aphids away from the beans.

It is worth experimenting with various different combinations, and observing the results, which can vary from one season or variety to the next. Marigolds (Tagetes), for example, help prevent carrot root fly, and in the greenhouse they are used to discourage whitefly, but you need to choose a strong-smelling variety. Other combinations to explore might include planting tomatoes near asparagus, whose roots exude a substance toxic to tomato eelworms, while French beans interplanted among the brassicas can deter some cabbage root and leaf pests.