Urbanscapes For Sustainable Living

Renee Gunter of Urbanscapes for Sustainable Living designs and creates drought-tolerant gardens in the greater Los Angeles area. Her passion for planting sustainably is evident on her Facebook page, which we follow. A post caught our eye about home-grown foliage that benefit the garden as well as the belly, and with her permission, we copied it here.

The following is a copy of Renee's list of beneficial and insectary plants. While not all will do well in the varying San Luis Obispo microclimates, many will, and they're worth experimenting with! 

1. Anise – Repels aphids, snails and slugs.
2. Borage – Repels pests that attack tomatoes and attracts pollinators to squash, tomatoes and strawberries.
3. Chives – Planted near apples help to control apple scab and that for grapes as well. Repels aphids, Japanese beetles and spider mites.
4. Cilantro (Santo) – Repels aphids & grasshoppers, potato beetles, spider mites. Attracts Lady Bugs.
5. Clover (white sweet clover, or crimson) – Long used as a green manure and plant companion, and is especially good to plant under grapevines. Attracts many beneficial insects. Useful planted around apple trees to attract predators of the woolly aphid.
6. Dill – Repels aphids and cabbage moths. Don't plant dill near carrots or tomatoes! Give them each room as dill can have negative effects on them both. Attracts ladybugs.
7. Fennel – Do not plant fennel near coriander/cilantro, caraway, or wormwood; they hinder each other.
8. Garlic – Repels aphids, cowpea curculio, flea beetles, Japanese beetles, Mexican bean leaf beetles, root maggots, spider mites and squash vine borers.
9. Horehound – Repels grasshoppers; tiny flowers attract Braconid and Icheumonid wasps, and Tachnid and Syrid flies. The larval forms of these insects parasitize or otherwise consume many other insect pests. It grows where many others fail to thrive and can survive harsh winters.
10. Mint – Repels ants, aphids, cucumber beetles, flea beetles, imported cabbage worms, rodents, squash bugs and white flies. Spearmint attracts predatory wasps. Mint and parsley are enemies. Keep them well away from one another.
11. Onion – Repels bean leaf beetle, cabbage loopers, carrot flies, flea beetles, harlequin bugs, Mexican bean leaf beetles, mice, rabbits, spider mites and squash vine borers
12. Oregano – Planted near cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber or grape vine repels pests that attack these plants.
13. Parsley – Pepels asparagus beetles and carrot flies.
14. Pennyroyal – Repels ants.
15. Radish – Repels cowpea curculio, cucumber beetles, harlequin bugs, Mexican bean leaf beetles, squash bugs and stink bugs.
16. Rosemary – Repels imported cabbage worms, flies and slugs.
17. Rue – [Dangerous for kids & pets in my front yard only.] Repels aphids, cats, dogs, Japanese beetles, onion maggots, slugs and snails.
18. Sage – Repels cabbage loopers, carrot flies, flea beetles, imported cabbage worms and tomato heart worms; do not plant near cucumbers, onions, basil or rue.
19. Tarragon [Artemisia dracunculus] – Plant throughout the garden, not many pests like this one. Recommended to enhance growth and flavor of vegetables.
20. Thyme – Repels cabbage loopers and white flies.
21. Wormwood – Repels slugs