I have an abundance of garlic chives I’ve divided out of my original clump. I’m curious if anyone has found any proof outside of the tales of companion planting to prove these type of plants provide benefits when planted alongside fruit trees.
No actual studies. My input is purely anecdotal.
Pro side: nothing has ever bothered my chives or society garlic, and nothing seems to mess with the wild onions/scallions/ramps/etc growing in my yard. If something eats the wild stuff, they don’t leave me evidence. Deer, rabbits and chickens have done no appreciable damage if they’ve sample.
My first crop of garlic is now about six inces tall, and nothing has molested it as of yet. The garlic scapes I left on the counter do not appear to be attactive to the fruit flies I’ll mention below.
Con side: if your trees and crops that depend upon pollinators are getting pollinated, then it obviously does not keep everything away.
Onions that stay too long on the counter have no problems attracting at least one varietal of fruit fly/gnat that lives around here. I’ve decided I didn’t need to buy them when I’ve disturbed clouds in grocery stores as well.
My fellow humans have not proven to be effectively detered by chives or society garlic, often pulling out a knife in order to facilitate stuffing significant clumps of the greenery into their mouths. My current neighbor even goes out of his way to find ramps at approximately this time of the year. He is also eagerly awaiting garlic scapes and harvested bulbs to become available.
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I have garlic chives growing under all my trees. Plenty of critter damage. They don’t hurt anything and the bees love the summer blooms, so they can stay.
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