This blog has been on my ‘to write’ list for a while, but then someone asked me a question about them, so it’s given me the motivation to get it done, thank you @urbanvegge!

What are plant guilds?

Put simply, they are groups of plants that work together to support and nourish each other.  Each plant in a guild offers unique properties to those around it, and these relationships make that group planting healthier, and often more productive.

Companion planting is something similar and is often used in annual cropping vegetable patches.  For instance, you might plant a row of basil in front of your tomatoes, as a way of deterring pests.  Guilds take this one step further and often involve perennial plants.

Growing food has changed over the years, and it is quite clear that in mainstream agriculture, monoculture (growing vast areas of one crop) has caused a great deal of harm.  Small-scale food growing is also often geared towards one crop per bed or row, away from the more ‘cottage garden’ practice of growing everything in together.

What makes a successful guild?

Guilds work on the basis that plants, just like humans, have different needs that are met in different ways, so having all the things we need around us, helps us to grow best.

A plant might need a lot of shade or moisture to grow well, it might have specific nutritional needs, or be the favourite food of an insect.  Growing plants in a group instead of rows of just one plant, means that different plants can provide different supports to each other.

Learning from others 

This is not new.  The word ‘guild’ describes the planting system that indigenous peoples have followed for eons. The planting of the ‘three sisters’ (corn, squash and beans) is an example of this; each plant offers a different attribute to the guild, which makes the whole group more successful.

Using guilds in your garden system

When we are thinking about our gardens, the first thing we need to work out is what we need.  If you are in an arid climate, you might need fast-growing plants that offer shade to more delicate plants, You might need deep-rooted plants, known to build soil (in a process called pedogenesis).  In a cold climate, you might want to introduce evergreen shrubs to offer protection to other plants from cold winds or add plants that are nitrogen-fixing to boost plant health.

Often, and particularly if you like the idea of growing a ‘food forest’, the guild will start with a fruit tree, and plants will be added around the base of the tree around the drip line (the area under the tree which is in line with the edge of the canopy of the tree, where the drips fall when it rains).   

Deciding what to put in your guild

Here are some questions you can ask yourself when deciding what to plant in your guild…

• What is my main, central tree, shrub, or plant?

• What plants are often found alongside that plant in nature?

• What problems do I have with need to be solved (Particular pests?  Grass creep?)

• What is the soil like in that area (Rich and moisture retentive?  Clay?  Sand?)

• How hot does it get there?  Does the main tree need shade until it gets established?

• How much rain falls? 

• Will the plant have enough water while it’s becoming established?  If not, which plants offer good ground cover to keep the soil moist?

• What properties would I like to obtain from this guild; food, medicine, attracting pollinators, confusing pests etc.?

Some of these questions will be difficult to answer, and some we won’t be able to know until they happen (e.g. as the climate changes, we might not be able to predict temperature or rainfall), so my way is to experiment.

Use what grows well!

I have a few plants that I know are ideal for my garden; they grow without me needing to do anything, have very low water needs, propagate easily, and offer many of the things I need, like shade or ground cover. 

One of these plants is a beautiful blue iris that was growing in another part of the garden when we moved here.  Every year I dig up clumps, divide them, and plant them around the base of trees or shrubs.  They seem to thrive in that position, as do the trees they’re planted around. 

Both my avocado and peach trees have volunteer wild fennel growing beneath them: perfect for insects.  A study over a two-year period recorded 60 distinct species visiting this elegant plant.  Add to that the fact that the umbellifers offer shade and that all parts of the plant are edible, and it is a winner.  And I didn’t plant it, it arrived on its own!

There are numerous lists all over the internet offering suggestions for planting guilds, and it can be useful to become more aware of the plants that generally ‘go together’, but ultimately, your own space is unique, and the only way you’ll discover what guilds work best is first to observe, and then to try out some combinations!

Are there any plants you find cropping up regularly?  You might want to ignore other people’s classifications of a ‘weed’; in permaculture, there is no such thing!  I have a real affection for chicory, which adds the most incredible blue to the borders in the summer (and has many other uses, including a coffee substitute), but again, I didn’t plant it, so it would probably be classified as a weed by others. Nature knows best what it needs, and these chicory flowers attract a myriad of insects, which then pollinate the plants and trees all around.

You are the designer of your guild

What plants do you like?!  This is important.  If you’re going to be spending your time and energy on this space, it should please you!  If you have a favourite flower, put it in a guild.  If it doesn’t thrive, move it.  Yes, nature should be our guide, but this is a process of learning, and you will start to pick up patterns of what works best for your space. 

Have fun with your guilds!