Companion Planting Chart Vegetables:
What Grows Well Together
★ SaveThis companion planting chart vegetables guide shows which plants help each other grow, and which ones to keep apart. The right neighbors can keep pests away, feed the soil, bring in bees, and make the most of a small bed.
Use the companion planting chart vegetables list below as your quick reference, then read on for the best pairings, the combinations to avoid, the flowers that help every bed, and the Three Sisters.
From My Garden
We usually add marigolds and zinnias to our vegetable garden borders. One year I also planted forget-me-nots, as the blue flowers and pretty foliage are such a lovely addition to the garden.
Marigolds not only can help with pest control, but they bloom all summer and into the fall, and add such a cheerful and colorful note to the vegetable garden.
Charlotte
Check your companions as you plan
Our free garden planner shows good neighbors and plants to keep apart as you lay out each bed.
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Free Companion Planting Chart Vegetables Printables
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Companion Planting Chart Vegetables Gardeners Use Most
Plants in the "good companions" column of this companion planting chart vegetables list grow well nearby. Plants in the "keep apart" column do better in a different part of the garden. Click the chart to download a copy to print.
| Vegetable | Good companions | Keep apart | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomatoes | Basil, carrots, parsley, marigolds, borage, asparagus, spinach, lettuce | Fennel, cabbage family, corn, potatoes | Basil helps repel thrips; marigolds help with nematodes. |
| Peppers | Basil, carrots, tomatoes, parsley, marigolds | Fennel, kohlrabi | Peppers share most of the tomato's companions. |
| Cucumbers | Beans, peas, dill, nasturtiums, sunflowers, marigolds, lettuce | Potatoes, sage, rosemary | Nasturtiums draw aphids away; beans add nitrogen. |
| Zucchini and squash | Corn, beans, nasturtiums, borage, marigolds, peas | Potatoes | Squash, corn, and beans are the Three Sisters. |
| Beans | Carrots, corn, squash, cucumbers, strawberries, potatoes, celery | Garlic, onions, chives, fennel | Beans add nitrogen for hungry crops like corn. |
| Peas | Carrots, corn, cucumbers, radishes, spinach, turnips | Garlic and the onion family | Peas help almost every neighbor. |
| Corn | Beans, squash, cucumbers, sunflowers, dill, marigolds | Tomatoes, fennel | Corn and tomatoes share some of the same pests. |
| Lettuce | Carrots, radishes, strawberries, chives, garlic, tall plants for shade | Large amounts of celery or parsley | Plant under tomatoes or beans for summer shade. |
| Spinach | Strawberries, peas, beans, celery, garlic | Few known conflicts | Grows well beneath taller crops. |
| Carrots | Tomatoes, onions, lettuce, rosemary, sage, chives, leeks | Dill in flower | Onions and leeks help keep carrot fly away. |
| Onions and garlic | Tomatoes, peppers, carrots, lettuce, cabbage family, strawberries | Beans and peas right next to them | Good pest deterrents all through the garden. |
| Broccoli and cabbage family | Celery, dill, onions, garlic, nasturtiums, marigolds, rosemary | Strawberries, tomatoes, peppers | Rotate each year; don't follow one cabbage-family crop with another. |
| Kale | Beets, celery, onions, garlic, nasturtiums, marigolds | Strawberries, tomatoes | Same companions as the rest of the cabbage family. |
| Potatoes | Beans, corn, cabbage, marigolds, horseradish | Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, sunflowers, fennel | Tomatoes and potatoes share blight; keep them apart. |
| Beets | Onions, lettuce, cabbage, kohlrabi, garlic | Pole beans | Bush beans and beets get along fine. |
| Strawberries | Borage, spinach, lettuce, chives, marigolds, thyme | Cabbage family, fennel, tomatoes, peppers | Borage brings bees for better berries. |
| Basil | Tomatoes, peppers, asparagus, marigolds | Sage right next to it | The classic tomato partner. |
| Marigolds | Almost everything: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, squash | Few conflicts | The most useful all-around companion flower. |
| Sunflowers | Cucumbers, corn, squash; a windbreak for tomatoes | Potatoes | Bring in pollinators and give light shade. |
How Companion Planting Works
Companion planting ranges from well-studied science to old garden tradition. Both have value, and it helps to know which is which. These five effects are well documented:
- Feeding the soil: Beans and peas host bacteria on their roots that pull nitrogen from the air into the soil, for their neighbors and for next year's crop.
- Confusing pests: Strong-scented plants like marigolds, basil, onions, and garlic make it harder for insects to find their favorite plants by smell.
- Trap crops: Nasturtiums draw aphids away from more valuable vegetables.
- Helpful insects: Open flowers like dill, fennel, and borage feed tiny wasps and hoverflies that eat garden pests.
- Plants that hold others back: Fennel releases chemicals from its roots that slow the growth of most vegetables.
| Benefit | How it works | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pest repellent | Strong scents confuse insects | Basil near tomatoes |
| Soil enrichment | Legume roots add nitrogen | Beans and peas near corn and squash |
| Pollinators | Flowers bring bees and helpful insects | Borage near strawberries |
| Shade and support | Tall crops shade or hold up their neighbors | Lettuce under tomatoes; beans up corn |
| Trap crops | A plant pests like better draws them away | Nasturtiums near cabbage |
Gardeners have grown plants together for thousands of years. The Three Sisters of corn, beans, and squash is one of the oldest and most productive examples.
The Best Companion Planting Combinations
Tomatoes and basil
The classic pair. Basil helps repel thrips, aphids, and whiteflies, and many gardeners find their tomatoes taste better. Tuck one basil plant beside each tomato.
Tomatoes and marigolds
French marigolds release compounds from their roots that help control soil nematodes, tiny pests that damage tomato roots. Plant a border of marigolds around the tomato bed.
Carrots and onions
Onion scent helps keep carrot fly away, and carrot leaves help keep onion fly away. Plant alternating rows.
Beans and corn
Beans add nitrogen that hungry corn needs, and corn gives pole beans something to climb.
Lettuce and tomatoes
Tomato plants shade the lettuce in summer heat and can stretch its season by several weeks, a good use of a small bed.
Cabbage family and nasturtiums
Aphids go for nasturtiums first. Plant them at the edges of your cabbage and broccoli beds, and wash the aphids off with a spray of water.
Strawberries and borage
Borage's blue star-shaped flowers bring bees that help strawberries set more fruit. Two or three plants per bed is plenty; borage reseeds itself.
Cucumbers and dill
Dill brings helpful insects that eat cucumber beetles and aphids. Cut it before it flowers, since flowering dill can slow cucumbers down.
Combinations to Avoid
Fennel and almost everything
Fennel slows the growth of most vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, beans, and the cabbage family. Grow it in its own pot or bed, away from the vegetable garden.
Tomatoes and potatoes
Both are in the nightshade family and share serious diseases, especially blight. Keep them in separate beds, and don't plant either in the same spot two years in a row.
Cucumbers and potatoes
Potatoes make cucumbers more likely to get blight, and the two compete for water and food.
Cabbage family and tomatoes
Both are heavy feeders and compete for nutrients. Give each its own part of the garden.
Onions and garlic right next to beans and peas
Onion-family roots can slow the helpful bacteria on bean and pea roots. They can share a bed; just don't put them side by side.
Flowers and Herbs to Plant Everywhere
★ SaveSome plants are such good neighbors that gardeners tuck them into every bed, and they turn up on almost every companion planting chart vegetables gardeners use.
- French marigolds: The best-studied companion flower. Their roots help control nematodes, and their scent helps deter aphids and whiteflies. Plant them as a border around beds and in the gaps between vegetables, especially near tomatoes and peppers.
- Nasturtiums: A favorite trap crop for aphids, with edible flowers for salads. Plant them at bed corners and edges.
- Basil: Helps repel thrips, aphids, and whiteflies, and bees love its flowers. Plant one basil for every two or three tomato or pepper plants.
- Borage: Brings bees for better pollination of every crop and comes back on its own each year.
- Chives: Help keep aphids and carrot fly away and return every year. Plant clumps near carrots and lettuce.
- Zinnias: Cheerful color all summer, and their flowers bring butterflies and bees to the garden.
More flowers and herbs to try: petunias, geraniums, dahlias, and chrysanthemums are all traditional companions, and herbs like sage and rosemary help keep insects away. Borage and lemon balm bring bees for pollination.
Two Hardworking Companions: Comfrey and Horseradish
Russian comfrey is a natural fertilizer. Its leaves are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Use them as mulch around spinach and chard, bury a few in the trench before planting potatoes, or soak them in water to make a liquid feed for tomatoes and peppers.
Wait to feed tomatoes and peppers until their flowers have set fruit; earlier, it only grows more leaves. Comfrey grows fast, can be cut several times a season, tolerates part shade, and brings bumblebees. One warning: comfrey liquid smells terrible!
Horseradish is a good neighbor for potatoes and cabbage, and planted at the corners of a potato bed, it's said to help keep Colorado potato beetles away. Grow it in a pot sunk in the ground, or it will spread all through your garden.
Use tall plants as helpers too. Corn can shade lettuce in a hot garden, and sunflowers can shade cucumbers and cabbage and give cucumbers something to climb.
The Three Sisters
★ SaveThe Three Sisters is a Native American way of growing corn, beans, and squash together, practiced for thousands of years by peoples including the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). Each plant helps the other two.
- Corn: grows tall and gives the beans a pole to climb.
- Beans: add nitrogen to the soil for the corn and squash, and help steady the corn in the wind.
- Squash: spreads its big, prickly leaves over the ground, shading out weeds, holding in moisture, and discouraging pests.
How to plant the Three Sisters
- Week 1: Plant corn in a block, at least 4 plants by 4 plants, about 12 inches apart, so it pollinates well.
- Weeks 2-3: When the corn is 4 to 6 inches tall, plant 4 to 6 bean seeds in a circle about 6 inches from each corn plant.
- Weeks 3-4: When the beans are a few inches tall, plant squash between the corn, 2 to 3 feet apart. Sprawling butternut or acorn squash cover the ground best.
A 4 x 8 foot bed is about the smallest size for a full Three Sisters planting. In a 4 x 4 bed, plant a row of corn at the back, beans at its base, and one compact squash at a front corner.
Tips for Using a Companion Planting Chart
- Start small: Begin with three or four proven pairings from the companion planting chart vegetables list, like tomatoes with basil and marigolds, and carrots with onions.
- Keep them close: Companions need to be within 2 to 3 feet of each other to help. A marigold at the far end of the garden won't help your tomatoes.
- Mix them in: Marigold borders, basil between tomatoes, and chives tucked through the bed work better than planting each crop in its own block.
- Separate beds for serious conflicts: Keep tomatoes and potatoes, and cabbage and strawberries, in different beds. For milder conflicts, like onions and beans, just don't plant them side by side.
- Keep notes: Write down what you planted where and how it did. After a few seasons, your notes will be worth more than any printed companion planting chart vegetables list.
Companions are one part of natural pest control. For cabbage maggots, for example, remove infested plants (don't compost them), cover young plants with row covers, and add beneficial nematodes to the soil. See our organic vegetable garden guide for more.
Companion Planting Questions
- What vegetables grow well together?
- Some of the best pairs are tomatoes with basil and marigolds, carrots with onions, beans with corn, lettuce under tomatoes, and cucumbers with dill and nasturtiums.
- What should not be planted together?
- Keep fennel away from almost everything, and keep tomatoes away from potatoes. Cucumbers and potatoes, and the cabbage family and tomatoes, also do better apart.
- What flowers are good companions for vegetables?
- Marigolds, nasturtiums, borage, and zinnias are favorites. Petunias, geraniums, dahlias, and chrysanthemums are traditional companions too.
- How close do companion plants need to be?
- Within 2 to 3 feet of each other, for every pairing on a companion planting chart vegetables list. Tuck companions in between your vegetables rather than planting them in a separate spot.
- Does companion planting really work?
- Some benefits are well studied, like beans adding nitrogen, marigolds helping with nematodes, and nasturtiums drawing aphids. Others are long garden tradition. Try a few pairings from the companion planting chart vegetables list above, and keep notes on what works in your garden.
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