Companion Planting Guide

Group together plants that complement each other by deterring certain pests, absorbing different amounts of nutrients from the soil, shading their neighbors, and enhancing friends’ flavors. This table of herbs and common garden vegetables offers suggestions for plants to pair together and plants to keep separated.

Plant	Good Pairing	Poor Pairing
Anise	Coriander	Carrot, basil, rue
Asparagus	Tomato, parsley, basil, lovage, Asteraceae spp.
Basil	Tomato, peppers, oregano, asparagus	Rue, sage, anise
Beans	Tomato, carrot, cucumber, cabbage, corn, cauliflower, potato	Gladiola, fennel, Allium spp.
Borage	Tomato, squash, strawberry
Bee balm	Tomato, echinacea, yarrow, catnip
Beet	Onions, cabbage, lettuce, mint, catnip, kohlrabi, lovage	Pole bean, field mustard
Bell pepper	Tomato, eggplant, coriander, basil	Kohlrabi
Broccoli	Aromatics, beans, celery, potato, onion, oregano, pennyroyal, dill, sage, beet	Tomato, pole bean, strawberry, peppers
Cabbage	Mint, sage, thyme, tomato, chamomile, hyssop, pennyroyal, dill, rosemary, sage	Strawberry, grape, tomato,
Carrot	Peas, lettuce, chive, radish, leek, onion, sage, rosemary, tomato	Dill, anise, chamomile
Catnip	Bee balm, cucumber, chamomile, mint
Celery	Leek, tomato, bush bean, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, garlic	Lovage
Chamomile	Peppermint, beans, peas, onion, cabbage, cucumber, catnip, dill tomato, pumpkin, squash
Chervil	Radish, lettuce, broccoli
Chive	Carrot, Brassica spp., tomato, parsley	Bush bean, potato, peas, soybean
Coriander/cilantro	Plant anywhere	Fennel
Corn	Potato, beans, peas, melon, squash, pumpkin, sunflower, soybean, cucumber	Quack grass, wheat, straw, tomato
Cucumber	Beans, cabbage, radish, sunflower, lettuce, broccoli, squash, corn, peas, leek, nasturtium, onion	Aromatic herbs, sage, potato, rue
Dill	Cabbage, lettuce, onion, cucumber	Carrot, caraway, tomato
Echinacea	Bee balm
Eggplant	Catnip, green beans, lettuce, kale, redroot pigweed
Fennel	Isolate; disliked by all garden plants
Garlic	Tomato, rose	Beans, peas
Hyssop	Most plants	Radish
Kohlrabi	Green bean, onion, beet, cucumber	Tomato, strawberry, pole bean
Lavender	Plant anywhere
Leek	Onion, celery, carrot, celeriac	Bush bean, soy bean, pole bean, pea
Lemon balm	All vegetables, particularly squash, pumpkin
Lettuce	Strawberry, cucumber, carrot, radish, dill	Pole bean, tomato
Lovage	Most plants, especially cucumber, beans, beet, Brassica spp., onion, leek, potato, tomato	Celery
Marjoram	Plant anywhere
Mint	Cabbage, tomato, nettle	Parsley, rue
Melon	Corn, peas, morning glory	Potato, gourd
Nasturtium	Cabbage, cucumber, potato, pumpkin, radish
Onion	Beets, chamomile, carrot, lettuce, strawberry, tomato, kohlrabi, summer savory	Peas, beans, sage
Oregano	Most plants
Parsley	Tomato, asparagus, carrot, onion, rose	Mint, Allium spp.
Parsnip	Peas
Peas	Radish, carrot, corn, cucumbers, bean, tomato, spinach, turnip, aromatic herbs	Allium spp., gladiola
Potato	Beans, corn, peas, cabbage, eggplant, catnip, horseradish, watermelon, nasturtium, flax	Pumpkin, raspberry, sunflower, tomato, orach, black walnut, cucumber, squash
Pumpkin	Corn, lemon balm	Potato
Radish	Peas, lettuce, nasturtium, chervil, cucumber	Hyssop
Rose	Rue, tomato, garlic, parsley, tansy	Any plant within 1 ft. radius
Rosemary	Rue, sage
Sage	Rosemary	Rue, onion
Spinach	Strawberry, garlic
Squash	Nasturtium, corn, mint, catnip, radish, borage, lemon balm	Potato
Strawberry	Borage, bush bean, spinach, rue, lettuce	Brassica spp., garlic, kohlrabi
Tarragon	Plant anywhere
Tomato	Asparagus, parsley, chive, onion, carrot, marigold, nasturtium, bee balm, nettle, garlic, nettle, celery, borage	Black walnut, dill, fennel, potato, Brassica spp., corn
Thyme	Plant anywhere
Turnip	Peas, beans, brussels sprout, leek	Potato, tomato
Yarrow	Plant anywhere, especially with medicinal herbs

For more information on companion planting, you may wish to consult the following resources:

Mayer, Dale. The Complete Guide to Companion Planting: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Garden Successful. Ocala, FL: Atlantic Publishing, 2010.

Philbrick, Helen. Companion Plants and How to Use Them. Edinburgh, UK: Floris Books, 2016.

Riotte, Louise. Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Pownal, VT: Storey Books, 1988.

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