Companion planting can be as simple as growing tomatoes and basil together or it can become much more involved depending on your desire.

Flowers such as Borage and Calendula encourage beneficial insects into the garden, which helps to increase pollination and/or eat pest bugs. Many insects perform numerious rolls; in the case of hover flies the adults are pollinators and the lave eat garden pest such as aphids and scale.

Some plants, like lavender and rosemary, have strong scents that mask the smell of the plants you don’t want eaten by bugs. There are also plants like marigolds that repel pests in the soil. Others such as Nasturtiums attract insects to them and away from your plants.

Comfrey growing in your garden will draw up nutrients from deeper in the soil, then the leaves can be added to compost or composted directly back into the garden.

Companion planting is about keeping a balanced eco system. Keep in mind there is little benefit in planting flowers to attract beneficial insects (including pollinators) and then spraying to kill aphids – your good insects will also be killed. Companion planting can help you garden organically and establish a stable eco system in your garden where beneficial insects like hover fly, ladybugs, and small birds will take care of the aphids.

When it comes down to it companion planting is about improving bio diversity in your garden in a thought out way.
– Adding diversity to your garden helps it to become healthier.
– Different plants play different rolls in the garden.
– A diversity of plants invites a diversity of insects and other creatures such as lizards and birds

But… there will always some plants that won’t get along, It is worth a quick google search to make sure your combinations work before planting – there are plenty of useful charts and tables to be found.

Check out this great article below from the knowledgeable people at
Sustainable Gardening Australia, which also includes a more detailed companion planting guide