In computer science, there is the notion of the edit distance between two strings. 1  For example, the words dog and dot, which vary by only one letter, are closer than dog and cat, which differ by three letters. This idea is used in spell checkers and in coding theory, and is mathematically formalized in several different ways, such as: 1  Levenshtein distance. 2  Hamming distance. 3  Lee distance. 4  JaroâWinkler distance. 5  N-gram distance.
The Three Sisters. The traditional Native American planting of corn, beans and squash makes an ideal companion combination. Corn is planted first, and when it is tall enough to provide support, pole beans are planted next to each corn stalk. The beans provide nitrogen to the corn, and the corn provides a stalk for the beans to climb.
Steps. 1  1. Understand the ways in which companion planting can help improve your gardening. 2  2. Decide on the reasons you want to use companion planting for. 3  3. Be aware that some combinations are advantageous while others are disadvantageous for plants.  4. Learn some of the more common companion plant combinations.