Companion planting in the garden, how to pair flowers, vegetables and more

When plants live as neighbors, they’re just like us: often, they really help each other out, but sometimes they just can’t stand each other! Check this list of how to pair vegetables to make sure relationships in your vegetable patch are worthy of Mr Roger’s neighborhood! That’s the art of companion planting.

Read also:

• Crop rotation in the vegetable patch

Pairing plants that are friends

Companion planting, or associating plants, means growing several different species of plants in the same place at the same time. This technique is part of a wider gardening concept called permaculture.

It’s an alternative to how farmers of the past few generations have been growing things. The aim is to respect the environment while still producing excellent produce that is healthy for us to eat.

Pesticides don’t have a say here at all, of course! Companion planting comes as a very precious help to get rid of chemical pesticides. Some plants are indeed capable of repelling pests, and others help prevent the spread of diseases. Furthermore, many plants actually enrich the soil they grow on: perfect to fuel other nutrient-hungry vegetables!

Two types of companion planting

• The allelopathic phenomenon: This is the sum of beneficial and detrimental effects of plants on each other.
• Space allocation and intercropping: this relates to how plants can complement each other as they spread and utilize space. For instance, asparagus grows tall leaves that provide shade for smaller veggies that can’t take full sun. On a time scale, it is possible to sow fast-growing radishes together with other slower plants. Radish will be ready for harvest by the time the slower growers get larger. They won’t compete for nutrients at all.

The 3 sisters

Definitely one of the most famous companion plant combinations! The Aztecs pioneered this technique in the Americas. It pairs together corn, beans, and squash (originally the Cucurbita maxima species). Corn grows into a tall stake-like shape that is perfect for a climbing bean stalk or two to latch on to. Bean, as it develops, absorbs nitrogen from the air and releases it in the ground. The third sister, squash, keeps the soil cool thanks to its wide leaves. This brilliant combination takes the advantages of each plant and merges them together on the same plot of soil.

Best companion plant combinations

Here is a list of companion plants, and also a list of those that shouldn’t be planted near each other. Of course, these are only the most common combinations. There are many more to discover and experiment with.

These include the most common vegetables, herbs and flowers

Plant	Favorable companion plants	Detrimental companion plants
Garlic	Peach tree, apple tree, pear tree, plum tree, chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, tomato, strawberry, raspberry, rose tree	Cabbage, potato, bean, pea, cabbage, artichoke, asparagus, marigold
Artichoke	Cabbage, lettuce, spinach, parsley, nasturtium	Garlic
Asparagus	Potato, cucumber, pickle, parsley, leek, pea, squash, basil, nasturtium, tomato	Mint, red beet, chard, chicory, onion, garlic, chives
Eggplant	Marigold	Potato
Basil	Tomato, chili, cucumber, pickle, squash, cantaloupe, cabbage, broad bean, zucchini, fennel, asparagus	Rue, absinthe
Chard (or Swiss chard)		Supposedly, this plant doesn’t make for good companion planting, but it’s still worth testing in your vegetable patch.
Red beet	Lettuce, celery, coriander, parsnip	Tomato, asparagus, spinach, leek
Nasturtium	Apple tree, radish, broccoli, bean, artichoke
Cardoon	Pair this one with short lead time crops such as radish or lettuce by sowing them at the same time.
Carrot	Leek, garlic, onion, shallot, chives, red beet, pea, radish, lettuce, arugula, parsnip, tomato, bean, salsify, chili	Dill, corn, chard
Celery	Leek, cabbage	Corn, parsley, lettuce
Chicory, curly endive and escarole	Spinach, arugula, marigold	Brussels sprouts, asparagus, turnip
Cabbage	Dill, celery, bean, mustard, rosemary, tomato, absinthe, cosmos, medicinal sage, thyme, bean, lettuce, spinach, marigold, nasturtium	escarole, zucchini, watercress, fennel, corn salad, corn, radish, leek, strawberry, oregano, chili
Chives	Carrot, apple tree, peach tree, red currant, black currant, rose tree, strawberry, cucumber, squash	Asparagus, radish, bean
Cucumber and pickle	Bean, corn, pea, asparagus, celery, cabbage	Fennel, leek, lettuce, escarole, melon, turnip
Squash	Corn, bean, asparagus, celery, cabbage, lettuce, corn salad, pea, onion, basil, chives, coriander, oregano, nasturtium	Radish, fennel
Zucchini	Basil, nasturtium	Cauliflower, radish, cucumber
Shallot	Carrot	Bean, pea
Spinach	Cabbage, rose tree, artichoke, chicory, strawberry, bean, turnip, salsify, radish	Jerusalem artichoke, sunflower, red beet, chard, fennel
Fennel	Knob celery (or celeriac), leek, basil	Tomato, absinthe, cucumber, chili, spinach, bean, pattypan squash, marigold, turnip, cabbage, coriander
Broad bean	Cabbage, potato, corn, lettuce, savory, basil	Onion
Strawberry	Leek, garlic, chives, onion, peach tree, spinach, lettuce, corn salad, turnip, bean	Cabbage
Bean	Corn, pumpkin, melon, watermelon, carrot, celery, cabbage, cucumber, potato, spinach, lettuce	Leek, garlic, shallot, onion, chives, fennel, pea, zucchini
Lettuce	Cabbage, carrot, onion, cardoon, pea, red beet, squash, broad bean, strawberry, melon, bean, turnip, leek, artichoke	Cucumber
Corn	Red beet, bean, pea, pumpkins and squash	Lettuce, onion
Melon	Watermelon
Turnip	Wild chicory, spinach, strawberry	Curly endive, escarole, savory, fennel
Onion	Carrot, lettuce, corn salad, radish	Bean, pea
Parsnip	Radish, red beet, kohlrabi, white onion	Lettuce
Watermelon	Melon, bean, tomato, cabbage
Sweet potato		Bell pepper, chili
Chili	Basil, carrot, marjoram, oregano	Fennel, kohlrabi, sweet potato
Leek	Carrot, celery, strawberry, asparagus, lettuce, corn salad, tomato, fennel, artichoke	Chard, red beet, cabbage, bean, parsley, pea
Pea	Potato, coriander	Onion, garlic, shallot, leek, parsley
Chick pea	Corn, squash (Cucurbita pepo)
Bell pepper	Onion (to be checked)	Solanaceae (nightshade family)
Potato	Asparagus, German chamomile, nasturtium, celery, Brussels sprouts, head cabbage, garlic chives, coriander, broad bean, bean, pea, radish, marigold	Walnut, sunflower
Squash (especially the Cucurbita maxima family)	Corn, bean
Radish	Watercress, chervil, parsnip, carrot, pea, cucumber, pickle, spinach, bean, kohlrabi, potato, tomato, onion	Chives, cabbage
Arugula	Red beet, carrot, curly endive and escarole
Tomato	Mexican marigold, French marigold, cosmos, German chamomile, cabbage, geranium, watermelon, cucumber	Potato, sunflower
Jerusalem artichoke		Should mostly be planted on its own

Smart tip about companion planting

Blending flowers, shrubs and vegetables together in growing beds is a great way to observe how nature works.

And it’s beautiful, too!

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Image credits (edits Gaspard Lorthiois):
CC BY 2.0: Rob and Stephanie Levy, Chris Feser
CC BY-SA 2.0: Michael Stange