What can you not plant next to garlic? is our next garlic care guide, Crops that can benefit one another are planted close together as part of the companion planting gardening approach.
It is a non-intrusive method of managing pests, increasing the amount of nutrients in the soil, and luring pollinators.
Read also: 9 OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE COMPANION PLANTS TO GROW WITH GARLIC
Garlic is a well-liked companion plant because the bulbs build up sulfur in the soil, which acts as a fungicide and creates a strong odor that naturally repels many common pests.
The practice of intercropping, which imitates how plants develop in a natural ecosystem to produce diversity and resistance to dangers, involves planting many species of plants together in a bed. Due to its small size and ease of planting, garlic is a simple plant to intercrop.
Remember that garlic prefers soil that is rich in nutrients and organic matter. It is a cool-weather plant that is typically planted in the fall or spring.
The vast majority of gardeners plant clove garlic, but there are a handful that don’t do well when it’s planted close by.
Let’s delve a little more into which plants benefit from companionship with garlic and what to avoid planting next to garlic before you map out the new plant pairings that you may plant next to garlic.
SUMMARY
WHAT CAN YOU NOT PLANT NEXT TO GARLIC?
Along with the helpful plants, there are a few others that don’t like to be anywhere near garlic; if they’re planted together, their growth may even be inhibited.
The following common plants should not be planted with garlic:
- Beans
- Asparagus
- Sage
- Basil
- Strawberry
- Additional Alliums
Let now consider the details of the above and see how it will affect your garlic
1. BEANS
Growing garlic adjacent to beans, including broad beans, bush beans, climbing beans, and the majority of other legumes, may limit their growth.
Read also: SOAKING GARLIC BEFORE PLANTING
As the garlic can benefit from soil rich in nitrogen, you should rotate them instead and plant it where you had beans the previous season.
2. ASPARAGUS
Asparagus can taint the flavor of newborn garlic bulbs, and garlic will inhibit the growth of asparagus shoots.
Additionally, asparagus is a perennial with extremely delicate roots that are only partially deep, so it won’t be like it when repeated garlic plants disturb it.
3. SAGE
Garlic planting and harvesting cycles are known to impede the growth of sage, a woody perennial that doesn’t like to be disturbed.
4. BASIL
Keep garlic and parsley apart since they will fight with one another for soil nutrients and may hinder each other’s growth.
5. STRAWBERRY
Garlic can protect strawberries from fungus and spider mites but can also limit their ability to thrive, so it’s debatable whether it helps or hurts strawberries.
Garlic has been observed to actually decrease the number of berries the plant produces, which is more destructive than light insect damage. For this reason, it is classified here as a non-beneficial plant combination.
6. OTHER ALLIUMS
Planting your garlic too near relatives like onions and leeks will increase onion maggots by providing them with an underground meal. Spread them all around your garden to prevent them from attracting maggots.
THE ADVANTAGES OF GARLIC COMPANION PLANTING
Let’s first examine some of the advantages that companion planting for garlic and other plants possesses, which will undoubtedly motivate you to get started if you are new to the practice.
1. MAKES THE SOIL BETTER
All plants eat the nutrients that are present in the soil, and one trait of companion plants is that they typically need different nutrients from the soil or assimilate them from different depths, preventing competition and slowing down the nutrient depletion.
Some companion plants, such as legumes that fix nitrogen in the soil, leave the soil richer than they found it, improving the soil’s quality and diversity over time.
Sulfur is released by garlic bulbs into the soil, and because surrounding plants absorb it through their roots, it can lessen the probability of fungus infections.
2. ELIMINATES PEST INSECTS
Since many pests are species-specific and rely on smell to find their way, they can be confused or scared away by other strong-smelling plants that are growing close to their target.
Many common garden pests will avoid garlic because of the strong stench that it emits into the air through volatile oils. Garlic cloves steeped in water can be used to make a powerful insecticide.
3. DRAWS POLLINATORS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS
Pollinators will tend to plants you want to be pollinated if you establish pollen-and nectar-rich flowering plants close by.
Similar to this, you can produce plants that ladybugs like close to crops that are being attacked by pests to attract insects that aid the garden by eating pests, like ladybugs that devour aphids.
This implies that you do not need to use insecticides, which frequently kill both pests and beneficial insects.
4. PROMOTES GROWTH
A plant will develop more quickly and healthily when the soil is rich in nutrients, there is room for expansion, and there are few pests. Even some companion plants have the ability to produce compounds underground that encourage a certain species’ growth more quickly.
With only one little underground bulb and a tall, rather a narrow stem, garlic is ideal for planting in areas with limited space but a problem with pests or fungi that needs to be dealt with.
5. PRODUCES LIVING MULCH
Garlic is a typical competitor for weeds, and spacing out different plant sizes to grow adjacent to one another will help control weed growth.
Taller plants can be planted next to low-growing greens and flowers that cover the soil, providing a cheap and palatable living mulch.
Garlic’s growth can be hampered by weeds, therefore covering the bulbs with low-lying plants is crucial.
6. MAKES ORGANIZATIONAL MARKERS
Interplanting faster-growing plants with slower-growing ones can provide staggered harvesting from a single bed and useful markers of where seeds have been placed.
For instance, because they quickly sprout and may distinguish the rows you have sown, radishes are frequently grown between carrot seeds.
Scapes from garlic plants, which are used to define borders and margins of garden beds, can be used as stakes.
7. OFFERS COVER AND SUPPORT
Many plants need support to develop, and the Three Sisters combination of pole beans, maize, and squash is a well-known Native American example of companion planting.
The wide, flat squash leaves shade the earth, keeping it cool and wet, while the pole beans cling to the long corn stalk.
Garlic can be used to replicate this since it similarly emerges from the ground upright and develops to be fairly tall (though not as tall as corn), but it shouldn’t be grown with beans.
Nasturtiums and other climbing flowers work well as a support system for garlic, and they also help to shade and mulch the soil around the garlic bulb.
CONCLUSION
What can you not plant next to garlic?
An efficient and low-maintenance method of pest control and plant growth enhancement is companion planting.
Since garlic is a natural pest deterrent, it has a wide variety of friends and should be spread out around the garden for the best benefits.
Companion gardening is an easy approach to making a biodiverse, healthy garden and is how nature supports diversity.
