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Companion planting is a great way to make your garden perform as well as possible. Almost every vegetable you grow will benefit from a plant that grows with it. This plant will add nutrients to the soil, keep pests away, and help you get the most out of your yard.
For companion planting, a good rule of (green) thumb is to look at the vegetable’s family and think about planting veggies from different families together. For example, vegetables from the cabbage family grow well with beets and vegetables from the green leafy veggie family. Some herbs will help them because they will keep pests away. Mint will also make cabbage taste better. You could put cabbage, broccoli, kale, and other cabbage family plants next to these plants to get a better yield and make them less likely to get sick.
Don’t plant some veggies close to each other. Just like people have likes and dislikes, vegetables do too, especially when it comes to their “next door neighbors” in the garden. Some vegetables will make other plants grow and produce less. Use a companion planting chart, like the one below, to make sure that the veggies you plant next to each other will grow well together.
Basil and tomatoes were made for each other, not just in sauces but also in the yard. This plant makes tomatoes grow more fruit and keeps flies and mosquitoes away. Nematodes and other plant pests will also be scared away by marigolds. Asparagus, carrots, celery, the onion family, lettuce, parsley, and spinach are also good friends of tomatoes.
Cabbage, beets, peas, dill, fennel, and rosemary are all bad for it. The corn earworm attacks both corn and tomatoes, and the same blight affects both tomatoes and potatoes, so keep these plants apart to stop the spread of pests or diseases.
Basil helps keep aphids, spider mites, mosquitoes, and flies away from peppers. People also think that basil makes the pepper taste better. Onions, spinach, and peppers also go well together.
Foes: Beans so the vines don’t spread among the pepper plants.
orn and beans grow well together because beans will grow up the cornstalks, so you won’t have to build them a scaffold. Beans are also good for corn because they fix nitrogen in the soil. Bean bugs don’t like marigolds, nasturtiums, rosemary, or summer savory. Summer savory also helps plants grow faster and tastes better. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and other cabbage family members, as well as onions, peas, potatoes, and radishes, are also good friends.
Beets and anything in the onion family are enemies. Bean trees can’t grow as well when onions are around.
Marigolds and nasturtiums will keep bugs and beetles away from your cucumbers. Good partner plants also include beans, celery, corn, lettuce, dill, peas, and radishes.
Herbs with a strong smell, like sage, will slow down the growth of cucumbers.
Carrots should be grown near onions because the carrot fly won’t like them. Also, onions will get rid of aphids, so put them near vegetables that aphids like but onions don’t bother. Beets, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, parsnips (which also get carrot fly), tomatoes, and spices like thyme, savory, and rosemary get along well with onions.
Foes: Asparagus, beans, and peas.
Friends: Plant mint near your lettuce to keep slugs away, which eat lettuce leaves, or plant chives and garlic to keep bugs away. Good partner plants include beans, beets, broccoli, carrots, corn, peas, radishes, and marigolds. Ladybugs that eat aphids are drawn to marigolds.
Parsley is a bad neighbor because it grows into a small, thick plant that can crowd out your lettuce.
Corn and squash grow well together because the corn stalks give space for the squash vines to grow. Also, beans, peas, radishes, dill, and marigolds grow well with squash.
Foes: Potatoes, as both plants are prone to blight.
Carrots don’t like the heat, so they do well with tomato plants that can give them some shade. Tomatoes also make solanine, which is a natural poison that kills bugs that eat carrot plants. Carrots are also good for tomatoes. Carrots break up the earth around the tomato plants’ roots, which lets more air and water get to the roots.
Leeks and carrots are also good plants to grow together, because leeks keep carrot flies away and carrots keep leek moths and onion flies away. Carrot flies can also be kept away by rosemary, sage, and chive.
Coriander and dill are bad for carrots because they both make chemicals that are bad for carrot plants. Parsnips also get the same diseases and bugs as carrots, so keep them far apart to avoid an infestation.
You can put radishes next to cucumbers to keep cucumber beetles away from the cucumbers. They also grow well with carrots because they are picked before the carrots and open the soil as the carrots start to grow. Radish gets along well with onions, beets, cabbage, kale, lettuce, spinach, and squash.
Foes: Hyssop.
Corn loves green beans and other vegetables that fix nitrogen in the soil. Cornstalks are also a great way to make a trellis for plants like beans, cucumbers, peas, pumpkins, and melons that climb or trail. When grown next to corn, zucchini is a good plant to have.
Corn earworms attack tomatoes and corn, so they are enemies. Plant these two plants far apart to keep these pests from moving around.
Beans, cabbage, eggplant, peas, and corn are all friends of potatoes. Planting marigolds near potato patches keeps bugs away, and horseradish will protect potatoes in general.
Foes: Tomatoes as they are prone to blight, which can also affect potatoes.
Peas get along well with beans, carrots, corn, onions, radishes, and turnips. If you put mint near peas, they should be healthier and taste better. When grown near peas, chives also keep aphids away.
Foes: Don’t plant peas near garlic or onions as it will stunt their growth.
Beets get along well with bush beans, plants in the cabbage family, celery, and onions. They will taste even better if you plant them near garlic.
Foes: Pole beans stunt beets growth and vice versa.
Follow these suggestions for companion planting to get better yields, fewer pest or disease problems, and an easier time taking care of your yard.
Let plants that can handle rough weather take care of plants that can’t. Plant hardy types that can handle the sun and wind and will protect themselves from harsh conditions on their own.
There are things you can’t change, like the weather, that can hurt your production. Increasing your chances of getting better yields can make up for any losses and give you a net gain in production.
Getting insects to come into your yard is easy if you grow all the things they like. Plants that make a lot of sap and pollen that good bugs like will help keep them around and get rid of bad bugs.
The best way to win is to have a good defense. Put plants that bugs like next to plants that they can’t stand. This will keep the plants that bugs like safe.
Catnip is great at keeping mice away, so if you have mice in your yard or near your doors, plant some catnip there to keep them from coming inside.
Plant sweet alyssum near plants that aphids have attacked before. The flowers of alyssum draw hover flies, which have larvae that eat aphids. The flowers also bring in bees, which help pollinate fruit trees that open early.
Weevils and bugs can be kept away from beans and grains in the kitchen by putting a bay leaf in the container.
One way to keep pests away from your garden is to plant certain veggies, herbs, or flowers next to each other. It has been done in different parts of the world for hundreds of years and is still done today. Feel free to make a chart for yourself using the information on this list.
