Top Picks for Accompaniment: Fruit-Friendly Shrubs and Vegetables for Your Orchard
Garden Hacks: Natural Pest Repellents and Nutrient Boosters
In the quest for a thriving, pest-free garden, nature has provided a bounty of helpful plants. Here's a roundup of some garden allies that not only add beauty but also repel pests, attract beneficial insects, and even boost nutrient levels.
Oregano: A Versatile Pest Repellent
Oregano, a helpful perennial herb, is more than just a flavour enhancer in the kitchen. Its tiny pale flowers draw in a surprising number of beneficial insects, such as bumblebees and lacewings, while repelling unwanted pests.
Yarrow: The Multitasking Herb
Yarrow, with its lovely soft, ferny foliage and flat-topped clusters of tiny flowers, is a magnet for pollinators beneficial to fruit trees. But that's not all. Yarrow is a dynamic accumulator, drawing up significant amounts of nutrients that it can "chop and drop" to release back into the soil, benefiting the fruit trees.
Lavender: The Fragrant Protector
Lavender, with its soft gray-green foliage and spikes of white to deep purple flowers, is a garden staple for good reason. Its strong fragrance repels many pests, while attracting beneficial insects. Lavender has many uses outside the garden, including cooking and crafting.
When planting lavender around fruit trees, consider mixing it with thyme, daisies, bellflowers, hollyhocks, lupines, sage, and lady's mantle. These plants not only look attractive but also support biodiversity and help deter pests naturally. Herbs like thyme complement lavender well for pest control, while flowering plants like daisies and bellflowers add colour and attract beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies.
Lentils: The Nitrogen-Rich Mulch
Lentils, an easy annual ground cover, are more than just a pantry staple. They fix nitrogen and serve as a nutrient-dense mulch, particularly beneficial when used as a nitrogen-fixing ground cover around the base of fruit trees.
Rhubarb: The Double-Duty Plant
Rhubarb, with its delicious, tart stems, offers more than just a pie filling. Its stems can be used to suppress weeds and give nutrients back to the soil when harvested.
In conclusion, these plants, from the spicy oregano to the fragrant lavender, can help create a garden that is not only beautiful but also pest-free and nutrient-rich.
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