Companion planting is a lovely topic to talk about with children. You can discuss friendships in nature with them and how different plants can help one another to grow by protecting each other. Here are a few examples of what grows well together in the garden.
Tomatoes and Marigolds
Tomatoes are a great example to use and are ‘friends’ with marigolds. Marigolds are a brilliant companion for many vegetables as their unusual smell helps ward off little insects like greenfly and black fly. So they protect the tomatoes, and they also add a lovely burst of colour to the garden! Basil also works as a good companion to tomatoes in the greenhouse, as it attracts whitefly away from them and the smell from the leaves repels other pests too.
Carrots and Sage
If you grow sage with carrots or plants in the cabbage family, it can help to ward off pests. They both have strong scents which drive insects off one another.
Cabbage and Nasturtium
Nasturtium attract caterpillars, helping to keep them from munching at the cabbage!
Roses and Garlic
If you plant some garlic amongst your roses it will help to keep the aphids away.
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We hope this little guide has been useful – getting children involved in gardening, especially growing your own fruit and vegetables at home, is incredibly beneficial to their development. It helps them to see how the food they eat grows in the ground and might also help encourage them to eat their greens if they can grow it and pick it themselves!
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