Gardening notebook
Oct 14, 2019
4 minutes
Compiled by Gillian Eva
Photographs: Francois Oberholster and supplied
Companion plants
What we have come to know as companion planting has been passed down by generations of gardeners, and while much is based on folklore, gardeners use this knowledge to find out which plants make good companions, and which don’t.
People became aware that while some plants thrived together, others did not, an indication that plants had certain properties that could affect others. The Roman agriculturist Marcus Varro (116–29BC) noted that nothing would grow beneath walnut trees, and it has now been found that the roots of these trees produce a natural herbicide that is toxic to other plants.
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