Garden planning part 2: Plant companions

After an exciting reveal of our top 12 crops and a discussion to break a few ties in our votes, we are proud, happy and a bit nervous to present our ambitious list of crops for the 2016 growing season!

Having chosen our crops, the next question is where will we plant each of them and how will we arrange our garden. I introduced the pupils to the principles of companion planting. We learned about plant interactions and how just like people, when different plants grow together, some like each other and become friends, whilst others get in their way and stop them from developing their full potential.

CROP	FRIENDS	ENEMIES
1. Sugarsnap peas	Carrots, radish, potatoes, swiss chard, parsnip	Onions, garlic
2. Radish	Lettuce, carrots, nasturtium, peas	————————
3. Pumpkin	Corn, beans, borage	Potatoes
4. Cauliflower	Potatoes, leeks, onions, borage, nasturtium	Beans, peppers, tomatoes
5. Red currant	To be planted in the grass area, will keep its own company
6. Leeks	Carrots, onions, cauliflower	————————
7. Carrots	Leeks, lettuce, peas, parsley	Parsnip
8. Lettuce	Radish, carrots, strawberry, borage, parsnip	Parsley
9. Parsley	Onions, carrots	Lettuce
10. Strawberry	Lettuce, green onions, swiss chard, borage	———–slugs———
11. Potatoes	Cauliflower, nasturtium, marigold, parsnip	Pumpkin, celery, sunflower
12. Sunflower	Pumpkin	Potatoes
13. Nasturtium	Potatoes, radish, pumpkin,	————————
14. Borage	Cauliflower, pumpkin, peas, strawberry, lettuce	————————
15. Marigold	EVERYONE!	————————
16. Raspberry	To be planted in the grass area, will keep its own company
17. Basil	Tomatoes	Swiss chard
18. Rosemary	Carrots	Radish
19. Swiss chard	Peas, strawberry	Basil
20. Parsnip	Lettuce, potatoes, peas	Carrots, celery

We talked about why some plants are friends, and others are enemies, and we put our knowledge to a test with a board game I designed specifically for the occasion!

The game was very fun to play and I think we all enjoyed it! It helped develop strategic thinking and tested the knowledge we acquired in previous sessions regarding plant origins, gardening in Scotland and complimentary planting. ‘Garden trouble’ was included to teach pupils about the risks involved with gardening and to make the entire exprience more realistic. We are half way through designing our allotment plots and will be posting our plan soon!