Grow Together

Getting the most from a veg patch is what all gardeners want. With a little forethought and planning, an approach that places different crops together, and in closer proximity than you might imagine, means you can grow more plants in the same area while creating healthy and beneficial plant communities.

No Dig guru Charles Dowding uses 40 years of growing experience to recommend which crops to grow successfully together, how to time it right, and how to harvest in particular ways, to grow the tastiest, pest-free crops as space-efficiently as possible. Carrots between lettuces, fennel between spinach, garlic interplanted with coriander, broad beans around asparagus, cucumbers between peas and strawberries: 50 different proven combinations are shared to help you get the most from growing crops in tune with the seasons, the soil community, and wider environment.

Growing together is about more than simply planting two different crops side-by-side: there's succession planting, catch-cropping, cover-cropping, companion planting, planting to aid pollination, and multi-sowing. Charles explains them all and provides invaluable advice on how to succeed in each technique, with the correct timings and spacings, as well as the best varieties to grow.DK author Charles Dowding has proven his success in selling books to his audience: No Dig (2022) and Compost (2024) have channeled all his knowledge successfully into brilliant and popular books. Charles is the undisputed leader in no-dig gardening. From his home and garden in Somerset, he has been growing vegetables and fruit for more than 40 years. He’s a market gardener (who still sells his produce locally to restaurants) as well as his social media, writing and course work.