Companion planting involves growing plants together that benefit each other by occupying different spaces, deterring pests, or providing nutrients. It creates diverse microbes in the soil to strengthen plant immunity, uses space efficiently, and increases harvest diversity and health. Well-known examples include the "Three Sisters" method of growing corn, beans, and squash together, and placing beneficial herbs and shrubs around fruit trees. When establishing a food forest, the goal is to mimic the seven layers found in nature - from canopy trees to groundcover plants - to create a lush, diverse, self-sustaining edible system.

1. Companion
Planting
Companion planting involves recognising
and mimicking the natural and beneficial
way that plants grow in natural spaces. It
is valuing diversity in our food growing
spaces and involves planting herbs,
flowers and vegetables together that
benefit each other, as well as the many
layers of a food forest.
Image: Marigolds make fantastic pest-deterrent
companions!

2. This way of designing food growing
spaces is beneficial for many reasons: it
facilitates diverse micro-life in the soil
which strengthens a plants immunity to
pests and diseases, it is an efficient use of
space, it increases the diversity of the
harvest and the diversity of the designer’s
diet – therefore increasing health as with
plants, many herbs deter pests from
vegetables and some may provide each
other with nutrients.

3. There are different forms of companion
relationships in a vegetable garden, these are:
Space companions – plants that occupy different
spaces (ie: root crops and above-ground fruiting
crops). Eg: Carrots and rosemary.
Pest companions – plants that deter pests from one
another. Eg: Basil and tomatoes.
Nutrient companions – plants that feed one
another or increase yields in some way (mainly
nitrogen fixers, but some herbs also increase the
oil content of other plants.) e.g. fruit trees and
bush beans.

4. A famous Native American companion
planting method, called the Three Sisters,
involves planting corn, climbing beans
and squash together. The corn provides
‘poles’ to support the climbing beans,
whilst the beans fix nitrogen into the soil
to feed the nutrient hungry corn and
squash, and the squash’s large leaves
shade the soil – creating a living mulch
effect. This method could be used with
corn, sorghum, sunflowers and any other
tall crops.

5. Companion planting in an orchard
would be creating ‘guilds’ of beneficial
herbs and other plants around each
fruit tree. These bring in microbial
diversity, diverse yields and protect
the tree from pests and diseases. Trees
do not naturally have grass growing
around their roots and do far better
with shrubby plants closest to them.

6. Companion planting in the form of a food forest is a
little more complex and involves mimicking the 7
layers found in a natural forest.
These are:
• Canopy – Large trees like nuts.
• Understory – Smaller trees like citrus.
• Shrub – Large bushes like rosemary and berries.
• Herbaceous – Small, soft-stemmed bushes like
mullein, origanum, spinach.
• Root – underground crops like sweet potatoes.
• Groundcover – plants that creep along the
ground like clovers.
• Vine – Plants that climb up trees like
granadilla/passion fruit.
Food forest layers image extracted
from:https://missioneden.wordpress.com/whats-a-food-forest/

7. The layers work in
symphony, creating a lush
and diverse edible forest
system with numerous
yields for the designer and
numerous habitats for
insects and wildlife. It is an
extremely efficient use of
space and, once established,
becomes a self-sustaining
system.