Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden

With all the talk of "science-based" around this book, I was expecting something like a text book, or an encyclopedic handbook of sorts. This book is not exactly either; it looks like a colorful gardening photo book, with many useful suggestions and descriptions of various types of cover cropping and interplanting practices that can be employed in the garden If that sounds good to you, then get this book!Sometimes the accompanying photos feel to me like full-page filler to add consumer appeal: the photo-to-text ratio is rather high, but that's more of a design/marketing decision. It delivers on some interesting companion suggestions, offering examples of unusual pairings, and some familiar ones - all while explaining the systems at work. If you are already deep into cover cropping and regenerative agriculture, permaculture, etc., then there probably aren't too many surprises here. It's the culmination of many subjects of study into one book with a common goal that makes it unique. For those of us who have been frustrated by the many contradictory lists of companion plants out there, this book exists as a sort of antidote. I must admit, I was sort of expecting an even more scientific exploration into some of the relationships, but Walliser has included an extensive bibliography of source material for folks to delve into if they find themselves wanting more.For critics who are disappointed to find no confirmation of their long held beliefs that X plant should always be planted with Y plant...then you clearly missed the whole point of the book, and some good lessons about how nature (and scientific study) actually work.

We used this as a guide for planting this season and were really pleased with the results. We are often plagued by squash bugs and aphids and use plants as trap crops for them. It could be a fluke I suppose but we were not bothered much by either this season. We also suffer from verticillium wilt in our tomatoes and sunflowers but no sign of it this year. I could go on but suffice it to say this book helped us up our game.

This book is amazing. I researched companion plant last year to the point of obsession. I found very contradicting advice from my sources. This book gets deep in the science of it all. (Probably a little too deep for me, but I’ll pull up my sleeves to have a beautiful and successful garden.) We have a huge garden and it was wildly successful for our first year on our property. I thank all the success to companion planting. We used almost no extras and it was all organic. I look forward to all the new tips I’ll apply to this years garden. I almost didn’t buy this based on one reviewer saying she knew it all and didn’t feel the book had good companions for vegetables. I have no idea what she is talking about. She obviously didn’t read this phenomenal book. Not tilling blows my mind, but I might even venture their next year. Buy it. Don’t think about it. Just buy it. This is a total spoil for any gardener.

Shipped promptly. The book is easy to read and use as a garden guide.

I liked the info provided in this book but it felt like there was a lot of filler material that the author put in to make a book that could be sold. It would have been nice to have the information in tables and it feels like all the info provided could have been summarized into 3 or 4 pages in an appendix. I'm fine with paying for the full book to fund the research, but it would have been great to have the info tables so I wouldn't have to read all the fluff to get to the info.

I am so thankful to Jessica Walliser for presenting solid, science-based information on which plants do what to other plants. Just plug in companion planting on Google and you’ll get dozens of combos based on myths, legends, common theories and more. There’s a plethora of false, sometimes even damaging, information out there when it comes to gardening. Walliser, a horticulturist from Pennsylvania, bases information on her years of research to hunt down and verify proven companions. One of her findings: An Iowa State University study that reported a significant decrease of the dreaded squash bugs on summer squash when grown side-by-side with nasturtiums. Sometimes the partnership is one plant trapping or luring undesirable insects from desirable plants.

Plant Partners is excellent. It provides companion plantings for managing pests, encouraging beneficial insects, and increasing overall ecological diversity. It’s well written and organized. Read it!

I like this book so much that I am buying another one for my Kindle. I bought this one for my niece, who loves to grow vegetables and also has a major in Biology. I haven't given it to her yet, as I bought it for her Birthday which is in November. I have been reading it, and I love it. Many of the companion planting books are incorrect (old wives tales?), and I have been disappointed in them; this one has a scientific perspective, and is thus more reliable.It is written with a scientific perspective, but is easy to understand. Did I mention I love this book?

I would have given this five stars, except that i don't live in America, so a fair amount wasn't applicable. However, i liked the way everything was laid out and explained and i shall be applying some of this each year, to change over to working more systematically on companion planting. Overall very useful information.

Jessica's book is stuffed full of beautiful full color photographs that illustrate the wealth of information in her book. Highly readable, packed full of information - this will become my go-to book for inspiration about companion planting.

The science behind the companion planting is easily understood by beginner through to experienced gardeners. The advise on planting which sacrificial plants is very helpful too. I am happy to recommend this publication,

I very much enjoy the photos and background information but still don't know how to substitute one plant partner for another to suit my particular microclimate.

After reading and following the information my garden seems to be doing exceptionally well.