Did you ever meet someone and immediately feel strange energy? The energy feels ‘off ‘and you just cannot connect with the person for some reason. Well, plants experience the same thing. Certain plants just can’t be together; their energy is just off. Some vegetables grow well together, and some plants seem to stunt each other’s growth. This can occur for various reasons including differing environmental needs, direct competition with one another for resources, soil types and conditions, and/or one plant attracting insects that harm the other. Companion planting provides a blueprint for yielding an increased number of vegetables. So how do we plan out which plants share space and soil vs. which plants to keep apart?
3 Initial Planting Rules
Before we explore who gets along with who, there are some initial rules to follow when designing your garden.
How Does Size and Light Impact Companion Planting Strategies?
If you plant a tomato plant next to a bush bean plant, the bush bean will be shaded by the tomato plant. This will not be beneficial for the bush bean plant. Therefore, when planning your garden, think about the size of the plants at maturity to ensure that plants requiring full sun do not get shaded by the taller plants. ‘ If the plants can tolerate partial sun then the partial shade may be ok.
Place shorter plants far enough away and oriented so the sun will shine on them during the day. Some gardeners plant the shortest plants in their own row at the edge of the garden or plant them at the borders of the garden.
Plants Need to Drink
Plants that need a lot of water will cause plants that don’t need a lot of water a great deal of discomfort. It’s always a good idea to plant vegetables with similar nutritional and water needs together unless they are on the list of competitive plants. One idea is to space them extra wide. Providing more space for plants has several benefits, allowing plants more room for root expansion and plant growth.
What are Allelopathic Plants?
Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon where one plant inhibits the growth of another plant. This occurs through the release of allelochemicals. Plant allelopathy is a means of survival in nature, reducing competition from plants nearby.
Allelopathic plants have the capability to chemically impede the vital systems of competing plants. Parts of plants can have allelopathic properties including the foliage, flowers, roots, bark, soil, and mulch. Some plants that are believed to have allopathic properties include asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, peas, soybeans, sunflowers, tomatoes.
Competing Plants
When planting broccoli in your garden, make sure that you practice crop rotation since broccoli can leave behind residue that other cruciferous crops can’t tolerate. Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables of the family Brassicaceae such as cauliflower, cabbage, kale, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, and Brussel sprouts. Garlic and onions are believed to interfere with the growth of beans and peas but seem to be compatible with most other garden plants.
Other commonly believed plant incompatibilities where close planting should be avoided include the following:
- Mint and onions should not be close to where asparagus is growing.
- Pole beans and mustard greens should not be planted near beets.
- Anise and dill should not be planted next to carrots cucumber, pumpkin, radish, sunflower, or squash.
- Tomatoes should not be planted close to potatoes.
- Any member of the cabbage family should not be planted near strawberries.
- Cabbage, cauliflower, corn, dill, and potatoes should not be planted near tomatoes.
Is Crop Rotation Important?
Companion planting is the art and science of laying out a vegetable garden where complementary types of vegetables are planted in the same bed. Crop rotation is successively planting vegetables from different plant families in different garden areas season after season or year after year to minimize insect and disease problems. Both companion planting and crop rotation are both key components of successful organic gardening and maintaining healthy soil and plants.
Complementary Plant Families
To effectively companion plant, note which family the vegetables come from. Plant vegetables from complementary families together. For example:
- Certain herbs will help deter pests.
- Mint will also improve the flavor of cabbages.
- You could plant any member of the cabbage family such as cabbage, broccoli, kale, and others alongside beets and green leafy vegetables and see a higher yield and improved disease resistance.
Where to Position Herbs
Herbs add flavor to foods, and they can also discourage harmful insects. Here are some quick tips on where to position common herbs in your garden:
- Nasturtium and rosemary deter beetles that attack beans.
- Thyme repels the cabbage worm.
- Chives and garlic deter aphids.
- Oregano, like marigolds, is a good all-purpose plant for the organic gardener who wants to deter most insect pests.
- Plant herbs freely among vegetables, tucking basil, oregano, rosemary and chives in among the tomato and pepper plants.
Confused? Here’s a Companion Planting Cheat Sheet! (includes some herbs)
The chart below is a guide to helping you plant your garden. This chart was created after reviewing several companion planting charts online and from our planting experiences. There is certainly contradictory information and missing vegetables from this chart and all the charts that were reviewed. This chart should only be used as a guide. Use your judgment and do additional research on specific vegetables that you want to plant and that are not mentioned in this chart. The size of your garden will impact many planting decisions.
| Vegetable | Companion Plant/Friend | Don’t Plant Together/Foe |
| Asparagus | Tomatoes Basil Cilantro Parsley | Onion Garlic |
| Beans (Pole & Bush) | Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Peas Potatoes Radishes Squash Strawberries Summer savory Tomatoes | Garlic, Onion, Peppers, Sunflowers. Chives |
| Beets | Bush Beans (not Pole Beans) Cabbage Broccoli Kale Lettuce Onions Garlic | Pole Beans |
| Cabbage Family* | Beans Beets Celery Cucumbers Dill Kale Lettuce Mint Onions Potatoes Sage Spinach Swiss Chard Thyme | Pole Beans |
| Carrots | Beans Lettuce Onions Chives Peas Radishes Rosemary Sage Tomatoes | Anise Dill Parsley |
| Celery | Beans Tomatoes Cabbage | None |
| Corn | Sunflower Beans Cucumbers Lettuce Melons Peas Potatoes Squash Sunflowers | Tomatoes |
| Cucumber | Beans Cabbage Cauliflower Corn Lettuce Peas Radishes Sunflowers | Aromatic Herbs Melons Potatoes Squash |
| Eggplant | Beans Pepper | None |
| Lettuce | Asparagus Beets Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Onions Peas Potatoes Radishes Spinach Strawberries Sunflowers Tomatoes | Broccoli |
| Melons | Corn Pumpkin Radish Squash | Cucumbers |
| Onions | Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Lettuce Peppers Potatoes Spinach Tomatoes | All Beans Peas Sage |
| Peas | Beans Carrots Corn Cucumbers Radish Turnip | Garlic, Onions, Chives |
| Peppers | Basil Coriander Onions Spinach Tomatoes | Beans Broccoli Cauliflower Kohlrabi |
| Potatoes | Beans Corn Peas | Tomatoes |
| Radishes | Basil Coriander Onions Spinach Tomatoes | Kohlrabi |
| Squash | Corn Lettuce Melons Pumpkins Peas Peppers | Broccoli, Cauliflower. Cucumbers |
| Tomatoes | Asparagus Basil Beans Borage Carrots Celery Dill Lettuce Melons Mint Onions Parsley Peppers Radishes Spinach Thyme | Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Cauliflower Corn Kale Potatoes Kohlrabi Dill |
Companion Herbs
Consult this chart for Companion Planting by Herb. This is a great chart that also discusses what herbs enhance the taste of certain vegetables. For example, planting basil next to tomato plants helps to enhance the taste of the tomatoes. Chives can be planted next to carrots but should avoid peas and beans.
Gardening or farming is driven by mother nature and your intuition. Research and read, learn from fellow farmers and gardeners, and most importantly, follow what you think is right. Your land and soil may be similar to others. However, only you know what makes your land and soil unique and what grows best where. Regardless of how you are advised, use your intuition to move forward, test, and make planting decisions. And, most of all, enjoy the process!
