The idea is attractive: you let your plants “make friends” in the garden by planting different types of plants close to each other so that they can provide each other with recognizable benefits. Often, the goal is to keep insects away. Sometimes a plant benefits. sometimes the benefit is mutual. And sometimes – very often – the “mating” doesn’t work at all and the pests outgrow the protected plant.
It’s frustrating when companionship planting doesn’t live up to its hype. But what’s a gardener to do? There’s a smarter strategy we’re excited about that scientists suggest will do a much more effective job of keeping these insects off your favorite plants. We call it fragrance clustering and we’re here to tell you about it.
Say hello to Scent Clustering
In traditional companion planting, gardeners are asked to match a plant that repels pests with a plant that needs to be protected – and do this repeatedly throughout the garden. If you’re new to the idea, then it’s worth picking up a copy The Old Farmer’s Almanac Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook from Amazon.
The idea is to have the aromatic plants that the pests don’t like scattered individually throughout the garden, close to the plants that need to be protected. Think of them as dancing, two by two, around the garden ballroom.
Scent grouping abandons this one-for-one/two-for-two approach. On the contrary, we can create a protective “wall” against insects grouping tough, aromatic plants together. Experts suggest that this is a more effective barrier against insect pests than spreading them throughout the garden.
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Because the build-up of scents deters more pests
Have you ever noticed that corner of the garden with two or three aromatic plants does it have a stronger, more exciting scent than an area with just one? In my garden in France, I have a rose full of itself aromatic varietiesand recently added one jasmine vine on the fence behind him. The combined scent seems three times stronger than the roses alone.
Grouping aromatic plants also enhanced the effect of the scent – and can be much more effective at deterring pests. A concentration of strongly scented plants can create a stronger “chemical landscape” that can help mask crop odors or confuse pests. Part of this is attributed to VOC communication.
As highlighted in this scientific studyplants release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in response to insect attacks. This VOC release is one way plants communicate with neighboring plants. When insect-damaged plants make their condition known, nearby intact plants raise their own defenses – such as aromatics – as if they were under attack themselves.
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The best plants for clustering fragrances
Fragrant plants are the Amazons of the garden. They add beauty and joy, but also bring the muscles to fight insect pests. In addition to keeping pests away with their smells, aromatic herbs and flowers attract beneficial insects. Aromatic and aromatic plants release essential oils with volatile organic compounds. VOCs communicate with other plants, but also confuse insects, making it difficult for them to find food.
Some plants have smells that bugs really can’t stand. These herbs include: garlic, green onions, parsley, orange scalpels, chives, lavender, rosemary, royal, marigoldsand alum. Other things that make the list so effective for gathering scents are bitterness, aromatic geranium, sandalwoodand tansy. Creating a “wall” of the strongest scented pests that confuses yarrow, anise hyssop, onionsgarlic and mints in gardens it helps keep pests away.
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Where to place scent clusters in the landscape
Generally, clumps of aromatics work best as perimeter planting. If you group them too close to the vegetable garden, they can hinder the growth of your crops. Instead, create a repellent fence or aromatics around orchards and vegetable patches.
It also works well to plant spicy aromatic herbs near garden paths. Their effectiveness increases when they are poured onto the pavement. The heated paving also warms the foliage, releasing the aromatic plant oils.
Succession Planting to continue scent groups
Now that you’ve identified your strongest aromatics and established them in mixed stands in the garden, the last thing you want is to have that “wall” crumble as the shorter-lived plants die. As you lose plants, the scent diminishes and the effect on insects also diminishes.
The key to maintaining fragrant stands is succession planting. You may have already started with succession planting in the vegetable garden. Basically, this means you don’t sow and forget. Instead, you sow rounds of seeds one after another to keep new crops coming all summer long. This works particularly well for crops such as lettuce which grow quickly and can be consumed quickly. Instead of ending up with hundreds of heads of lettuce at once, you end up with a smaller amount that ripens sequentially.
You can use successional planting for your herbs as well. Whatever you decide to plant, just keep sowing the seeds every week or every other week to keep the herbs from coming.
