I grow marigolds on the edges of my lasagna beds, but it's more of a pretty factor than a companion factor. And with this years bed rotation, the marigolds are on the edges of pepper, squash, and bean beds, and not along the tomato beds at all, lol. And I thickly direct sow marigold seed too- that way it's a nice bushy border and if/when they get bug-tacular I can just pull those plants if needed. This year it's carrots and leafy greens edging the tomato beds- but that's more of a got that little space left over I can cram them into rather than companionship. But hey, if it helps, why not? I've never been sure how basil is supposed to improve tomatoes either- I always figured it was kind of an old wives tale because tomatoes and basil are so often companioned in cooking rather than the growing aspect of it. I would never grow garlic in my tomato bed- my garlic gets it's own beds, and honestly is one of the only beds that is perfectly picked clean of anything that could compete with the garlic. Garlic might be good for tomatoes, but I wouldn't want to chance tomatoes out competing my garlic. Borage gets it's own growing space too, because it has it's own application, and I don't want it competed with. I grow calendula aside too for the same reason. My sage is in the herb garden, and I don't grow chives because I have large swaths of my lawn that are thick with wild chives so I don't need to grow any. Nasturtiums can be a great companion plant as far as I'm concerned- but as a companion plant only as a trap plant that I'm willing to sacrifice. I had a nasty aphid infestation last year, and the nasts trapped almost all of them- and when a bit of the plant got infested, I promptly cut it off and drowned it. I grew them next to peppers and squash last year, and they didn't get a single aphid. I wouldn't rely on nasts as a companion to just let sit and do whatever. But then I have the tendency to grow hedgerows of nasts because I use them a lot for various eating too, so I can use them as sacrificial companions and eating plants.

"Bear in mind there is no such thing as a dwarf conifer. They all get big in the end. " That's not exactly true :-) There are true genetic dwarfs and many other 'dwarf' conifers will never get "big" or the same size as their full sized species cousins!! It's true they never stop growing, but the growth rate on dwarfs is so slow that they would need a dozen decades or more to actually develop significant size. Most can remain a compact and very manageable size in a smaller residential garden without concern.

OK I'm back with more questions. I've been reading a lot today. One website says grey spite are botrytis blight. I hope I spelled that correctly. Lol.is that what this is? This is the same plant in the other photos when i ask if it was a disease.can it be saved?.i have lots of house plant but never heard of this diease.

ahappycamper - I don't 'throw' any of my vegetables. Brassicas are grown about 2 feet apart. Lettuce about 6 inches. These are all planted out as transplants, not seed. I grow the plants from seed myself but not in situ. Despite what others say about deep and shallow rooting plants, intercropping of salad and brassicas works. It is tried and tested and a common practice over here. The salad is all harvested in the summer by the time the brassicas are ready in the winter. Here's the link again The picture shows Chard and Red Russian kale on my allotment. It wasn't taken to show intercropping hence you can't see the rows in total.