I'm mainly thinking of herbs such as lemon and bee balm to attract bees and enhance flavor... Ok, attracting pollinators is always a good thing! Even tho most veggies are self pollinating it is always handy to have them for the squash and such. All around the edges of the garden works well for that purpose. And they aren't picky either - most any flowering plants will get their attention. Improving taste is another matter since it simply can't be proven/documented in any way and some problems can result depending on how planted - shading from the bigger plants, needing very different nutrient and water needs, competing for nutrients and water, attracting pests that can harm the primary crop (as marigolds do with aphids), etc. Again borders work ok, mixed in with the vegetables needs to be done with care. A herb garden or patch or even in a separate row that is just herbs is a great thing to have and since herbs prefer much lower nutrient needs than vegetables they thrive best when away from all the heavy fertilizing is. Mixed in with the tomato plants and such - not so much. Experiment with some placements and see what works for you best. I posted this question in the companion planting...and got no replies Yeah that's a problem and a clue as to the fading popularity of it. There is still alot of information to read there but it isn't active. When the fad was hot and heavy years ago it was pretty aggressive in this forum with all its claims and things got pretty heated so was given its own forum. Over time and with experience and questionable results the fad and the forum has pretty much faded. It just never developed into all it was initially cracked up to be. Dave

Magnolias are shallow-rooted and don't like to have their roots disturbed. If you for some reason feel you need to plant near the house, you will be taking many scores of square feet of area out of cultivation. And forget planting shrubs-groundcover underneath, as there will be almost no light striking the ground when mature. Which means moss, lichen, maybe even algae on your roof material, in addition to leaf litter, stamens, rotting flowers contributing goo. Which is never good. Dan

From this post and the previous one, I don't think willow and birch trees are your biggest problem. If the area you live in is as wet as you describe (springs everywhere, a river, ditches with continuously flowing water), your septic beds are essentially useless....you might as well run a straight pipe from the house to the river (because at ~40' to the river, that's what's happening now anyway).

That is definitely true too. Some of them however do keep their more rigid leaf profile even as larger plants as in the case of Nainital and..... The "Bulgarian Trachys"growing in Plovdiv. Interesting, he actually mentions the mountain genetics on this site. Hopefully this link(under the weather sticker) works- Here is a link that might be useful: Bulgarian Trachys