DIY Network

Plant Choices Plant Choices From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-203

Figure A

Choosing the right plants for your area will make your organic garden much more productive. Joe shows us the plants that he's chosen for his organic garden: tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers (figure A). He plans to plant all the vegetables in their own beds and add some companion plants to each bed. And then for an extra treat, he'll add some mint all around the new beds to help repel pests and make the area smell nice and sweet.

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Plants such as marigolds can help repel pests in the garden.

When choosing plants for your organic garden, there are a few things to consider. Your local garden center can help you answer all of these questions:

• What plants are designed to grow in your area? Those will have the best chance of producing high-quality, good-tasting vegetables.

• What diseases are common to your area, and are there varieties that are resistant to those diseases?

• How much care are the plants going to need? Are you choosing plants that have more requirements than you have time for?