Expert gardener shares ancient method that can increase your plants' health and resilience: 'This is so cool'

Who knew plants grew better with friends?

Expert gardener Seb (@solarity.acres) shared on TikTok the benefits of an age-old gardening method known as a permaculture guild.

@solarity.acres A guild is a specific set of plants that work well together. Each plant fulfills a different role in the system. You've got your main plant which is often a fruit or nut tree. Then you've got a variety of supporting roles, like nitrogen fixers, pollinator attractants, pest repellants, dynamic accumulators, ground covers, or ephemeral nutrient cyclers. If set up correctly, a guild will nurse the main crop (the fruit tree) to be extra healthy and resilient without needing much tending-to from the gardener. AND you'll be getting extra yields from the various support plants you've added. Guilds are also a really smart way to start growing a food forest. (Comment 'food forest' if you want a video like this with me drawing how food forest design works!) Because guilds are self-sustaining, you can start small and just plant one fruit tree with a bunch of support plants. Once this guild is established you can immediately move your focus to the next guild a few meters away, knowing that the first one is going to only require some small maintenance tasks. Once you have 5 or 10 guilds like this all grouped together, you've actually just designed a food forest with your canopy species being supported by the various understory layers. Imagine if we started planting guilds all over the place? If every one of you watching went outside and planted a guild in your community, we could decrease food insecurity, increase local resilience, help out our pollinator friends and make our communities more beautiful and welcoming to humans and non-humans alike. Honestly this apple guild I demonstrated in the video is actually underpopulated. I would probably add around 5 species more to make it complete, but I just wanted to make a simple one to show the general idea. But would you want to see another guild design? If you want, comment what guild you want me to design next (fruit tree, nut tree, berry bush guild, etc)! #permaculture #guilds ♬ original sound - Seb 💚

This ancient practice, used for centuries by cultures around the world, involves strategically placing certain plants together to enhance growth, deter pests, and improve soil health. It is also called companion planting. 

The scoop

"A guild is like companion planting on steroids," Seb said in the video.

Seb started with an apple tree and designed a guild to support the tree. "You've got your main plant which is often a fruit or nut tree," they wrote in the caption. "Then you've got a variety of supporting roles, like nitrogen fixers, pollinator attractants, pest repellants, dynamic accumulators, ground covers, or ephemeral nutrient cyclers."

Instead of fertilizer, Seb said planting dynamic accumulators — deep-rooted plants that bring up nutrients and minerals from the deep soil — can help support the apple tree. They chose comfrey and dandelion as well as lupin to aid in nitrogen fixation. Next, they added clover for ground cover, which helps the soil retain moisture and reduces weed pressure.

Seb chose garlic and marigold to deter pests and borage and bee balm to attract pollinators. That's quite a diverse garden!

The TikToker suggested starting small when building out your guild. "Just plant one fruit tree with a bunch of support plants," Seb wrote. "Once this guild is established you can immediately move your focus to the next guild a few meters away."

How it's helping

Every plant within the guild serves a purpose to support another. "Now this apple tree is fulfilling all of its needs without us needing to tend to it," Seb said.

Thoughtful plant pairing can reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, leading to a more resilient and low-maintenance garden. Growing your own produce can lead to significant savings, especially as grocery prices continue to rise. Home gardens reduce the need for transportation and packaging, lowering the carbon footprint associated with buying at the grocery store.

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According to the National Gardening Association, a well-maintained home garden can yield over $600 worth of produce annually.

Gardens also support biodiversity by providing habitats for pollinators and beneficial insects, which is extremely important for soil and crop health.

What everyone's saying

TikTok users were amazed by this innovative yet simple gardening technique.

"That is the best description of permaculture I've ever heard," one said.

"This is so cool," another added. "Now I want to learn more about this."

Whether you're tending a small balcony garden or a full backyard plot, companion planting is a tried-and-true way to make your garden thrive.

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