Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting

🍋 Lemon Camp: September 17 and 24Grow a healthy, productive lemon tree in a pot. In these two live online sessions, Steven Biggs covers watering, feeding, pruning, repotting, pests, flowers and fruit—and how to get a lemon tree through the winter.Recordings are included, so you can watch afterwards if you can’t attend live.Learn more and register for Lemon Camp- - -  We’re joined by Pittsburgh-based horticulturist and author Jessica Walliser to talk about her new book Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden. There is a lot of folklore that finds its way into discussions about companion planting. Walliser explains that her hope is to reboot the term “companion planting” by looking at it through a scientific lens. What is Companion Planting? Walliser says that companion planting is purposely planting two or more plants close together to get some sort of benefit. Companion planting does not have to mean putting two plants together at the same time, however; it can also mean growing plants in succession. Common terms used in science that overlap with the idea of companion planting are: Intercropping Plant partners Interplanting Polyculture Benefits of Plant Partners In her book, Walliser has chapters on seven different benefits of using plant partners in the vegetable garden. Soil preparation and conditioning Weed management Support and structure Pest management Disease management Biological Control Pollination