When you are planting your garden, one of the first orders of business is to choose what you are going to include. Will you plant flowers? Will you plant herbs? What about fruits and vegetables? Beyond those categories, you should also consider which of them work well together and which do not. For instance, you should not plant potatoes near apples or cherries. However, some fruits and vegetables make perfect garden companions. Here are five perfect pairings to consider.
Cantaloupe and Corn
Are you a fan of melons? Cantaloupe is a fantastic fruit in the melon category. Not only is it a healthy option and a perfect addition to a fruit salad, but it is also a sweet delicacy. If you want to boost its growth in your garden, try planting it near some corn. The contrast in the height of the plants helps prevent interference, and the nature and nutrients of both complement the other, rather than causing stunted growth.
Lettuce and Strawberries
If you are a fan of eating salads, you are likely to include lettuce in your vegetable garden. Lettuce is a shallow growing vegetable, and any type of leaf lettuce makes a perfect companion to strawberries. They go well together as strawberries are quite resilient and integrate nicely with the shallow growth of lettuce. They can also come back every year once their roots take hold in the soil, so you need not repeat planting.
Tomatoes and Peppers
When most people mention tomatoes, they refer to them as vegetables. After all, does anyone put tomatoes in a fruit salad with strawberries, kiwis, and apples? You certainly can, but this does not change the fact that a tomato is actually a fruit. So what vegetables could you pair tomatoes with to boost their growth?
Growing tomatoes next to sweet red peppers, green peppers, et cetera, provides the pepper plants with shade. This helps avoid the harmful effects of too much sun. They are also a perfect pair should you wish to make homemade salsa or another dish requiring both peppers and tomatoes (such as pasta sauce).
Carrots and Onions
Do you love garden carrots? Most people would agree garden carrots tend to be more flavourful than much of what you would see in the grocery store. However, growing carrots in your garden comes with a major challenge: carrot flies.
Fruit, unfortunately, does not help deter carrot flies from your garden. Choose another vegetable, like onions (yellow, red, et cetera), to plant near your carrots to dissuade the flies from destroying your harvest.
Radishes and Cucumbers
Radishes make the perfect garden companion for cucumbers, so if you definitely want to plant the latter in your garden, be sure to at least consider planting radishes as well. Why? Radishes act as an excellent deterrent to the major enemy of cucumbers: the cucumber beetle. Make these beetles hate your garden by planting these vegetables next to one another.
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