sunflowers and squash

[Pies]

Hi all started thinking about next year,does anybody know if i could grow a few sunflowers amongst my squashes

tia

[northepaul]

Yes I did this year and (although the squashes were all eaten etc) it worked very well.

[Hans Mum]

i did it by accident some self seeded in the middle of my pumkin patch and were fine

[Florence Fennel]

That sounds a lovely idea, might pinch it.

[Two_Sheds]

I have sunflowers among all my beds, the only things that didn't seem to like them were the onions. Last year I tried using sunnies as poles for my climbing beans ~ well it didn't work at all, the beans just didn't grow at all well: 3 sisters | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I have read that sunflowers give out some chemical to inhibit the growth of other plants, so you might want to keep them a foot or so from other plants.

[taff]

I can verify that. I put some by the fence this year, ok, more of them, the couch grass from next door hasn't encroached where they are, but it has encroached where the rose is right next to them.

[Two_Sheds]

the couch grass from next door hasn't encroached where they are

oh, that's encouraging. In a quest for privacy from the blokes in the flats adjacent, I've just sprinkled sunflower seeds round the entire perimeter of my plot. I'm hoping it repels the neighbouring couch grass too

[ukfapower]

I did three sisters this year and the beans won! They pulled the sweetcorn all over the place and broke some stems. I don't think I'd do beans and sweetcorn together again. I had sunflowers in tubs with courgettes and patty-pans and they seemed to get on ok. The summer squash have run out of steam though - I guess that's a lot of hungry feeders jammed in together.

[northepaul]

The squashes didnt try to crawl up the sunflowers but instead, spiralled around them.
I like the idea of using them to deter weeds, thanks for that