FOR WRITERS who are tempted to start gardening, Voltaire warned: "One should cultivate letters or his garden." But luckily for those writers who love to dirty their hands in soil, the Swiss poet and philosopher, Henri Frederic Amiel, had this to say: "A modest garden contains, for those who know how to look and to wait, more instruction than a library.''

The library of your garden has one particular lesson that many organic gardeners swear by. It is companion planting for richer gardening. It is all about helpful weeds, poisonous plants that are friends if you know how to use them, good and bad plants as neighbours and much more.

Louise Riotte, an expert on organic and companion gardening, brought out a book called "Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening" which is filled with tips. You learn how to grow plants that favour each other when grown side by side and avoid those which are harmful.

In our daily life, we are landed with good or bad neighbours, helpful or poisonous friends; the same situation prevails in the garden. There are many tricks to be learned about companion planting. Most of us now know that marigolds repel pests. But we should also know that to be effective in controlling pests, they should be grown over at least one or two full seasons.

If nasturtiums (these are flowers you can see every year in the Lalbagh flower shows) are planted in a circle around your fruit trees, aphids will not come near them!

Role of garlic

Garlic is becoming an interesting addition to the flower garden. Two scientists at the University of California discovered garlic to be a powerful enemy against mosquitoes! It achieved a 100 per cent ability to kill five species of mosquito larvae by spraying breeding ponds with a garlic-based oil.

David Greenstock of The Henry Doubleday Research Association in England found that an oil of garlic emulsion used as an insecticide killed 89 per cent of aphids, and 95 per cent of onion flies. So what does this tell us to do in our gardens?

Grow your own garlic without using chemicals. Try this recipe: Take 3 to 4 ounces of chopped garlic bulbs and soak in two tablespoons of mineral oil for one day. Add a pint of water in which one teaspoon fish emulsion has been dissolved. Stir nicely. Strain the liquid and store in a glass or china container, as it reacts with metal. Dilute this, starting with one part to 20 parts of water and use as a spray against your worst insect pests! Garlic grown around fruit trees and roses also keeps pests away. You can try growing garlic in a circle around tomatoes to keep away pests.

Mint is a friend to grow near cabbage and tomatoes. Mint enriches their flavour. Dried mint leaves will also repel rats and mice. Have you tried out salt to get rid of slugs in the garden? Ordinary table salt will dissolve slugs, so carry a small salt shaker in your pocket. If you like eggs, you are lucky. You will always have free nutrition for your plants. Eggs supply nitrogen, phosphoric acid and calcium. They will also contribute lime to your soil. Mix the eggshells directly into your potting soil.

Watering tips

How to water your plants when you are away on a long trip? If your neighbour is not keen to do it for you, here is an easy way to do it. Water each plant thoroughly and then cover completely with a clear plastic bag like the one you get from a stylish mall. Place it in a cool location away from direct sunlight. Plants will last like this for two to three weeks! But if they are in clay pots, stand them on bricks in a watertight container, such as a sink or a bath-tub. Bring the water level up to the tops of the bricks.

This method will work well for plants too large to fit in plastic bags. This too will work for three weeks. The magic of gardening never forgets to gift us pure delight every day and every night!