Garden Neighbors

Host: Gary Bachman, Ornamental Horticulture Specialist

Transcription:

Many people are now growing ornamental and edible plants together in small spaces today on Southern Gardening.

Southern Gardening with Gary Bachman is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Besides making your garden look beautiful, growing edibles and ornamentals plants can have a synergistic effect on farm production and make better use of the soil available. And adding adversity to the landscape is always good for garden health. Having a variety of plans lessens the chance of a disease and the chance of a pest wiping out your entire garden.  Besides, flowers attract pollinators. Just like we can’t resist the fragrance of some flowers, insects can’t either. This is good for yield because more pollinators in the garden can mean more veggies.

Companion planting may benefit certain plants. While much of the information is annadotile, there seems to be plenty planting evidence that mutual benefit is derived from paring plants. So, do chives protect roses from insect pests? Do hornworms avoid tomatoes if paired with basil? Do catnip guard eggplant from beetle? Or do cucumber beetles dislike disturshums? Who knows! But what can these pairings hurt? At best, you can have a beautiful, pest-free garden. At worst, you’ll have appealing companion plantings.

Try using lettuces borderedgeing with all the different leaf lettuce varieties available, your bed edges will not be boring. Try mixing bell peppers in with your perineals. For the adventurous, any of the many extreme hot peppers like habanero come in a variety of colors that can add interest and heat to your garden.  

An old garden adage says, “Vegetables feed our bodies, and flowers feed our souls.” Why not have a garden that accomplishes both at the same time?

I am horticulturist Gary Bachman for Southern Gardening.

Southern Gardening with Gary Bachman is produced by the Mississippi State University Extension Service.