Review by Gail Thomas
This completely revised and expanded 2nd edition in full colour with chapters on companion planting for fruit, vegetables, flowers, the lawn, and soil fertility explains the effectiveness and how companion planting works along with ways of attracting birds and other pest predators, deterring possum and bruit bats problems and developing your own companion planting.
Whether you’re looking at planting to fix nitrogen in the soil, as companions for your favourite crops or to repel pests Jackie has included plenty of suggestions and rated them accordingly. For example scented leaf geraniums have a high repellent rating, are easy to grow, are highly attractive and can be useful for culinary applications to line cake tins or scent sugar for cooking. As dahlias will outgrow grass she suggests planting an area thickly to clear they area of grass or weeds, and it’s best not to plant daffodils under trees that are under five years old as they will inhibit the tree’s growth.
A diagnostic chart of common pests provides a quick reveal of symptoms, cause and useful companions and a useful list of seed suppliers and books for suggested reading further expand the scope of this best-selling guide.
Borrow it from your libray, buy it from your local independent book shop or buy it online from our Shop
Jackie French, Manna Press, $18.95
