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Companion Planting Guide

Gathered here for easy future reference:

Anise

Plant anise and coriander seeds together.  They will both germinate more quickly.  Keep soil moist and separate when seedlings have grown a little.

Apple

If planted with chives there is less chance of apple scab disease.

Asparagus

Becomes more vigorous if planted with parsley.

Basil

Basil repels white fly and makes a good companion to tomatoes, in the garden & the kitchen.  Use 3 basil plants to each tomato plant.  Basil also repels flies and mosquitoes, so useful in kitchen, outdoor barbecues.  Don’t plant near rue.  Deters tomato hornworm, aphids, flies and mosquitoes. Slows growth of milkweed bugs and acts as a fungicide.

Beans

Less likely to suffer from beetles if petunias also planted alongside.  Grow more strongly if planted with summer savoury.

Bad Companions:  Basil, Beets, Cabbage, Fennel, Kohlrabi, Onion, Radish, Sunflower

Beans (Bush)

Plant with sunflowers, they like partial shade and the sunflowers attract birds and bees.  All bean types are beneficial if planted with cucumbers, potatoes, corn, celery, savoury because these plants are heavy feeders.  Beans create their own nitrogen and are light feeders.

Bad Companions:  Basil, Fennel, Kohlrabi, Onion

Bee/Lemon Balm

Plant with tomatoes, it improves growth and flavour.

Beetroot

Grow better if planted with onions, kohl rabi, basil, beans, lettuce, cabbage and tomatoes.  Planting with onions helps deter some insects and deters weeds.

Bad Companions:  Mustard, Pole Bean

Bergamot

Attracts beneficial honey bees.

Borage

Plant with strawberries to increase crop.  Also good with tomatoes and squash.  Attracts bees to the garden.  Deters tomato worms, attracts bees, helps growth and flavour.

Broccoli

Planted with dill or mint grows better.

Cabbage family

Cabbage butterfly is repelled by planting rosemary or sage with cabbages.  Any member of the cabbage family should also be planted with potatoes, tomatoes, celery, dill, chamomile, sage, thyme, mint, rosemary, lavender, beetroot or onions.  All the above are aromatic plants, and therefore deter cabbage worms.  Thyme and tomatoes also help control flea beetles.

Bad Companions:  Pole Bean, Strawberry, Tomato

Calendula (Pot Marigold)

If planted with tomatoes, this repels asparagus beetles, tomato worms and other pests.

Caraway

Long roots help break down and condition heavy soils, can plant near shallow rooted plants.  Dislikes fennel.  Attracts parasitic beneficial wasps.  Caraway dislikes being planted near fennel.  Sown with peas, caraway seeds germinate more easily.

Carrots

Carrot fly is repelled if carrots are planted with sage or onions.  Also plant with peas, lettuce, chives, leeks, rosemary or tomatoes.

Bad Companions:  Celery, Dill, Parsnip

Catnip

Planted on the vegetable garden border, catnip will deter cats from venturing further.  Protects against flea beetles, and attracts bees.

Celery

Planted with bush beans, they help each other to grow better.  Also good companion with leeks, tomatoes, cabbage and cauliflower.

Bad Companions:  Carrot, Parsley, Parsnip

Chamomile

Compatible with onions and cabbages but don’t plant too much.  Chamomile tea, made by soaking blossoms in cold water for 1 to 2 days, is excellent spray for damping off.  Improves both growth and flavour of onions and cabbages.

Chervil

Chervil improves flavour of carrots if grown with them.  Radishes planted near chervil has hotter taste, and improved growth.

Chives

Carrots grow larger planted near chives.  Helps prevent apple scab if grown underneath apple  trees.  Also helps control aphids and black spot on roses.  Cooled chive tea made from chopped chives in boiling water helps combat downy and powdery mildew.

Comfrey

Comfrey keeps surrounding soil rich and moist.  Rotted leaves and roots mixed with water makes good fertiliser.  Improves size and flavour of strawberries if planted nearby.

Coriander

Sown with anise seeds aids germination in both. Coriander repels aphids.  Don’t grow near fennel as it hinders its seed formation.

Corn

Sowing with beans or peas provides an increased nitrogen supply to the corn (if corn and peas/beans are planted in alternate rows).  If sunflowers are planted with corn, the incidence of armyworm decreases.  Also plant with potatoes, cucumbers, pumpkin, squash.  Vining things like this shade the ground, keeping weeds down, and use the corn stalks to trail up on.

Bad Companions:  Tomato

Cucumbers

Plant with beans, corn, peas, radishes, and sunflowers.

Bad Companions:  Potato

Dandelion

Plant along garden border to produce pollen for lady beetles, lacewings, and other predators and parasites.  Repels Colorado Potato Beetles.

Dill

Cabbage grows well planted near dill.  So does lettuce, corn & cucumber.  If dill is allowed to flower it suppresses the carrot crop, if not allowed to flower it is fine.  Don’t plant near fennel as they may cross fertilise.

Eggplant

If planted with aramanthus, there is less likelihood of insects on the eggplant.  Also, beans planted with eggplants repel beetles which would otherwise attack the eggplant.

Bad Companions:  Fennel

Elderberry

Plant near your compost heap as it assists in breakdown.  Humus from base of elderberries make excellent topsoil.

Fennel

Don’t grow fennel in the vegetable garden.  It is hated by tomatoes, kohlrabi, caraway and wormwood.  If planted near dill may cross fertilise.  Repels fleas, so grow it around dog kennel.

Garlic

Planted near roses keeps aphids away.  If grown around fruit trees effective against borers.  Protects peach tree from leaf curl and apple trees from apple scab.  Grown near tomatoes deters red spider mites.  However peas, beans, cabbages and strawberries hate it.  Garlic spray may be made by crushing 4 cloves and steeping in a litre of water for several days as an insecticide for vegetables and flowers.

Geranium

Plant near roses, grapes and corn.  Repels cabbage worm.  Oil of geranium prevents red spider mite.

Grapes

Planting clover increases the soil fertility for grapes.  Hyssop likewise increases the vine crop.

Horseradish

Helps deter potato bug if planted near potatoes.   Can take over so keep restricted.

Hyssop

Good for cabbages and grapes.  Helps deter white butterflies.  Good insect repellent if planted in  vegetable or flower garden.  Keep away from radishes.

Lavender

Attracts butterflies.  Lavender bags repel mice, ticks and moths.

Leeks

Leeks grow better if planted with carrots, celery or onions.

Lemon Balm

Attracts bees.  Improves growth and flavour of tomatoes.

Lettuce

Plant with carrots, radishes, strawberries or peas.

Lovage

All round garden helper.  Improves health and flavour of most plants near it.

Marigolds

Plant everywhere!  Deter many insects and slugs.

Marjoram

Beneficial on most vegetables planted near it.

Melons

Plant with corn, nasturtiums, and radishes.

Bad Companions:  Potato

Mint

Repels cabbage butterfly, grow near cabbage family or tomatoes.  Repels fleas, ants and mice.  Keep mint and parsley away from each other.

Nasturtium

Useful insect repellent.  Plant around broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage family, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers and fruit trees.  Deters white flies, squash bugs, and are a trap crop for aphids.  Limits wooly aphid damage to apple trees if planted in a circle around them. Get more tips from Tree service experts.

Onion

Planting chamomile with onions improves the flavour of the onions.

Bad Companions:  Asparagus, Beans, Peas, Sage

Oregano

Plant near broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower to repel cabbage butterfly and near cucumbers to repel cucumber beetle.  Also benefits grapes.

Parsley

Grow near chives, but away from mint.  Aids growth of roses, tomatoes, asparagus and carrots.

Peaches

Growing garlic around peach trees reduces the chance of peach leaf curl disease.

Peas

Grow them almost everywhere, peas add nitrogen to soil.  Growing interplanted with corn enhances growth of the corn.

Bad Companions:  Onion, Late Potato

Peanuts

If grown with squash or corn will increase the yield.

Potatoes

Plant horseradishes with potatoes to make them more disease resistant.

Bad Companions:  Cucumber, Kohlrabi, Parsnip, Pumpkin, Rutabaga, Squash family, Sunflower, Turnip, Fennel

Pumpkins

Plant with datura to increase the vigour and health of the pumpkins.  Also plant with corn.

Radish

Plant with climbing beans, and both grow better.  Plant with lettuces, and the radishes become more succulent in summer time.  Also plant with peas, nasturtiums and cucumbers.  Deters cucumber beetle and other insects.

Bad Companions:  Hyssop

Rose

Planting chives or garlic with roses protects them from black spot and some pests, including aphids.  Parsley protects roses from beetles. Though the effects of the above-mentioned plants are not that powerful in the house or flat, give preference to EZ Bed Bug Exterminator NYC.

Rosemary

Grows well with sage, improves growth of carrots, cabbage and beans.  Don’t grow near potatoes.

Rue

Hates basil.  Plant near roses, strawberries and fig trees.  Effective fly repellent and it repels dogs and cats which hate it.

Sage

Plant near rosemary.  Good grown with cabbage and carrots, peas and beans.  Keep away from cucumbers.  Sage tea can be sprayed on mature plants not seedlings.

Salad Burnet

Good with thyme and mint.

Savoury(Summer)

Grow near onions and beans.  Deters bean beetles.

Savoury(Winter)

Useful insect repellent.

Spinach

Plant with strawberries, and base of trellised peas.  Spinach benefits from shading of peas and wind protection.

Squash

Plant with corn or nasturtiums.

Strawberries

Planted with borage improves the soil nutrition for the strawberries.  Also plant with bush beans, spinach and lettuce.  Do NOT plant with tomatoes.

Bad Companions:  Cabbage, Potato

Tansy

Repels ants, flies and moths.  Rub leaves onto fur of dogs and cats to repel fleas.  Plant near fruit trees and roses.  It concentrates potassium in the soil so good for compost heap.

Tarragon

All purpose garden helper.

Thyme

Attracts bees and deters cabbage worm so plant near members of cabbage family.  Beneficial effect on plants near it.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes grow and produce better when planted with marigolds; the same rule applies to basil planted with tomatoes.

Bad Companions:  Pole beans, Corn Dill, Fennel, Potato

Valerian

Excellent addition to compost heap as stimulates phosphorous activity in soil.  Earthworms love it.

Wormwood

Grow by itself edge of garden as inhibits growth of other plants.  Spray discourages slugs and snails.

Yarrow

Increases essential oil content enhancing aromatic quality and making more resistant to insect attack.

And, VERY IMPORTANT:  Interplant herbs and flowers. By planting flowers and herbs among your vegetables, you can attract beneficial insects and birds, which are natural predators to those pests that eat your brassica leaves. Flowers and herbs can also confuse pests and deter them from finding your prize crop. If you have problems with pest infestation, then you may consider hiring professional pest control services.

But wait, it gets better.  Here’s a list of herbs and the pests they repel:

Basil

Flies, Mosquitoes

Borage

Tomato Worm

Catnip

Flea Beetle, Ants

Coriander

Aphids

Dead Nettle

Potato Bug

Feverfew

attracts aphids away from other plants

Flax

Potato Bug

Garlic

Japanese Beetle, Aphids

Horseradish

Potato Bug

Henbit

Insect Repellent

Hyssop

Cabbage Moth

Lavender

Moths 

Marigolds

Mexican Bean Beetles, Nematodes, others

Mint

Cabbage Moth, aphids, flea beetles

Nasturtium

Aphids, Squash Bugs, Striped Pumpkin Beetle

Pennyroyal

Flies, Mosquitoes, Fleas, others

Pot Marigold

Tomato Worm, Asparagus Beetles, others

Pyrethrums

Dried flower, repels insects

Rosemary

Cabbage Moth, Bean Beetle, Carrot Fly

Rue

Japanese Beetles

Sage

Cabbage Moth, Carrot Fly, Flea Beetle, Slugs

Southernwood

Cabbage Moth

Summer Savory

Bean Beetles

Tansy

Flying Insects, Japanese Beetles, Striped Cucumber Beetles, Squash Bugs, Ants, Flies

Thyme

Cabbage Worm

Wormwood

Plant as a border to repel animals