Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
European goldenrod. An easy plan is to plant a few marigolds
throughout the bed, a columbine plant, a bit of cilantro, and
some dill.
You should familiarize yourself with the properties of
beneficial plant attractors before planting them in your beds.
Don't just run out and plant mint in the garden bed directly,
for example, because it will take over the entire bed. Instead,
plant mint in a pot and then bury the pot in the garden soil so
that the upper edge sticks out of the soil 1/2 inch or so.
You may also want to choose some plants that you will
already use in some other way—such as mint for tea, dill for
pickling, and cilantro for salsa. That way you are making
maximum use of limited space. There is nothing wrong with
growing goldenrods just because they are pretty!
Another valuable addition to the garden and yard, once the
seeds have sprouted and the plants are growing well, would
be chickens or guineas. Both types of birds, but guineas
particularly, wreak havoc on bugs, especially bugs like ticks
that nobody wants around anyway. Such livestock can
effectively keep many sorts of garden pests from reaching the
critical mass of population necessary to be threatening to
crops.
Table 12: Preventative Plantings
Beneficial
Insect
Controlled Pests
Plants to Provide
Moth, beetle, and fly larvae
and
Dill, yarrow, tansy,
Queen Anne's lace,
parsley
Parasitic
wasps
eggs,
including
caterpillars
