[smc]

do many of you guys inter crop, ie oinons next to fruit trees and so forth??

[mumofstig]

well............I grow lettuce between rows of sweetcorn and winter cabbage.

The height of the sweetcorn means they're not bothered by the lettuce and vice versa.
and with the cabbage, the lettuce are out of the way before the cabbage gets big.
If you like them you can get a quick crop of radishes between most things, they are harvested sooo quickly.
Is this the kind of thing you mean?

[peapod]

I dont intercrop but do as mum says and plant 'catch crops' while waiting for bigger plants to mature..e.g. beetroot in the sprout bed.

[smc]

yeah thats what i ment, just wonered what people did with the spaces around stuff, like in the middle of broccoli and other brassicas, because they have around 2ft of space, also do people plant stuff around there fruit or trees to keep certain things away?

[stentman]

Planting under trees can be difficult the tree will grab most of the water and nutrients so the soil close by usually is a tad dry, even more so at the moment. Your tree will be there all the time it will require moisture to live and produce blossom in spring and hold it's fruit all summer ready for an Autumn harvest. Tough conditions for something else to thrive in.

[peapod]

do people plant stuff around there fruit or trees to keep certain things away?

That is called companion planting e.g. onions and carrots in the same bed (to mask the smell for the carrot fly for example). Theres loads of info if you google.

I always plant sacrificial marigolds in all of my beds to try to keep the slugs away from my veg!

[peapod]

Planting under trees can be difficult the tree will grab most of the water and nutrients so the soil close by usually is a tad dry, even more so at the moment. Your tree will be there all the time it will require moisture to live and produce blossom in spring and hold it's fruit all summer ready for an Autumn harvest. Tough conditions for something else to thrive in.

Stentman is correct that its hard to grow crops under or near established trees

[pete1977]

I normally grow pumkins/squash/ corgette/marrow  under my sweetcorn for the same reasons as mumofstig -  need loads of manure / feeding

lettuce/rocket between brassicas as they are picked before they get shaded out

I've planted straws under trees but they fruit at similar times to my plum and the bramleys drop on them in june so it was a resounding failure

[Gandan57]

My three fruit trees aren`t very big and they all have a deep mulch of well rotted FYM around the base and I plant salad crops and parsley into this. So when watering these plants the trees get a drink too.

[Nikkithefoot]

yeah thats what i ment, just wonered what people did with the spaces around stuff, like in the middle of broccoli and other brassicas, because they have around 2ft of space, also do people plant stuff around there fruit or trees to keep certain things away?

I rarely put my plants the recommended spaces apart. As long as the soil is well fed you can plant a lot closer together. You do have to be more vigilant for pests and diseases, but on the flip side the weeds don't get a chance to grow.