Plant Partners (Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden)

Companion planting has a long history among gardeners, but it’s a history filled with folklore and conjecture, often at the expense of sound science. With a hearty share of popular companion planting methods sitting squarely in the realm of old wives’s tales, it can be difficult for gardeners to decipher which plant partnerships are truly successful and which are not worth the time and effort. Jessica Walliser examines companion planting through a 21st century lens, shedding light on the latest research regarding this practice and offering gardeners dozens of ways they can use scientifically tested plant partnerships that benefit the garden as a whole. This view of the garden as complete ecosystem redefines the science of successful companion plantings by recognizing and harnessing new information about the ways plants interact with and influence each other, from chemical signals passed back and forth to the thread-like fungi that colonize plant roots and help them access otherwise unavailable nutrients. Then it examines plant partnerships that growers can use to tackle a range of common garden problems and achieve improved soil health and weed control, decreased pest damage, and increased biodiversity. Plant Partnerships delivers a modern approach to this ever-popular growing technique, one that can generate real and measurable impacts in the garden.