Control Garden Pests Naturally With These 4 Easy-To-Grow Companion Plants

Companion planting is a great way to control pests in your garden organically. By choosing your plants and their location wisely, you can repel insects and even other plants! Learning about some easy-to-grow plants to repel certain pests can go a long way in ensuring your garden nemeses are kept under control, so you can enjoy a bountiful harvest. 

These four plants can repel common pests, like tomato worms, Japanese beetles, potato bugs, aphids, ants, plant lice, and more:

Borage

Borage, also known as starflower, holds its bug-repelling secret in its star-shaped flowers that attract predatory wasps that prey on a variety of common garden insects. It is a good companion plant for strawberries, tomatoes, and squash. Not only will borage help keep tomato worms away and common strawberry pests, like aphids and whiteflies, it also adds calcium, potassium and other important minerals to the garden soil. 

Borage is a no-fuss plant, easy to grow, and readily reseeds, so even though it's an annual, you'll see it sprout up the following spring. If you plan to use borage as a companion plant, place it as border near your strawberries and tomatoes where the leaves won't come into contact with your skin while gardening; they can cause itchiness. 

Garlic

Garlic is a powerhouse when it comes to repelling insect pests. You can use it as a garden companion for a variety of plants.

  • Plant in circles around fruit trees to protect against boring insects
  • Plant near tomatoes to repel red spiders
  • Place garlic plants near roses to repel aphids and other pests

Placing garlic throughout your vegetable garden can help control a variety of common pests:

  • Japanese beetles
  • Weevils
  • Spider mites
  • Cabbage loopers
  • Coddling moths

Garlic also accumulates sulfur, which is a natural fungicide that helps protect plants from disease. 

Dead Nettle

If you plan to grow potatoes in your garden, plant dead nettle as a close neighbor to protect your potato plants against potato bugs while improving growth and flavor. Sometimes called white archangel, dead nettle produces a long season of showy white blooms. It is one of the few herbs that grow well in damp areas with filtered sunlight. 

Marigolds

Marigolds not only brighten up the garden, but these flowers powerful scent help protect other plants from nematodes, Mexican bean beetles, and other common pests. When planted near potatoes, marigolds can help protect them from viruses and bacteria. 

Marigolds kill nematodes on contact. They produce a chemical in their roots that is released into the soil and kills these pests. Marigold roots release this chemically slowly, so you must grow them all season for lasting control. 

These are plants are easy to grow, but just a few of the many companion plants you can use to help protect your garden from annoying chewing and sap sucking pests. While companion planting is an organic option for keeping common garden pests away, if you have a large infestation, you can contact your local pest control company for advice. Professionals can offer you safe solutions to lawn and garden pests.

To learn more, contact a company like Greenleaf Organic Pest Management with any questions or concerns you have.


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