What’s your Understory?

Experimenting in the garden is a given every year. While there is much conversation about companion planting (marigolds ward off insects that might chomp through a vegetable garden for example), the other narrative is about larger plants sheltering smaller, more tender plants from the intense heat of summer. Think of it using the height of one plant to shield another, smaller plant.

Tomatos and basil are soulmates in the garden, with tomatoes often towering above basil, but around and beneath the basil is an ideal home for cilantro and parsley which do not love heat and benefit from the shade of their herbal companions.