Companion Planting Information and Chart

Companion planting at it's best -corn, climbing beans and squash form the ancient Three Sisters Guild

We recently received an e-mail from a gentleman in China looking for...

"what plants you may have in your garden that you can transplant next to your Rose or your Apple tree to see how they nurture each other over time"

I thought I would post our own updated list of companion plants for him and anyone else interested. While I would love to say this plant or that plant are "best" I feel I must remind folks to keep in mind your climate, soil and many, many other factors that determine how well these plants cooperate together.  Trial and error is the best choice to begin companion planting but the chart below should lead you in the right direction...

What is Companion Planting?  A gardening method which makes use of the synergistic properties found in Nature: cooperation between plants to achieve optimum health and viability.

P = perennial plant in our Mediterranean climate

Vegetable/Herb	Likes	Dislikes
Anise	Coriander	Basil, rue
Asparagus  -P	Tomato, parsley, basil
Basil	Tomato, sweet peppers	Rue, anise
Beans	Beets, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, corn, cucumber, marigolds, potatoes, strawberry, summer savory	Onion, garlic, gladiolus, fennel
Beets	Onion, kohlrabi, bush beans, lettuce, cabbage family	Pole beans, mustards
Borage	Strawberry, fruit trees
Cabbage Family (broccoli, kale, cauliflower, collards, cabbages etc.)	Aromatic herbs, hyssop, thyme, wormwood, potatoes, celery, dill, chamomile, beets, onion, sage, peppermint, rosemary, oregano	Strawberry, tomato, beans, mustards, pole beans
Calendula  -P	Garden tonic, nutrient accumulator, chard, radish, carrots, tomatoes, thyme, parsley
Carrots	Peas, lettuce, chives, onions, leeks, rosemary, sage, tomato, wormwood, parsley	Dill
Celeriac	Scarlet runner beans
Celery	Leek, tomato, bush beans, cauliflower, cabbage
Chard	Roots crops, lettuce, radish, celery, mint
Chayote (Sechium edule)	Cucumbers, Pumpkin, peppers, squash, corn	celery, mint, or snap beans
Chives  -P	Carrots, apple orchards	Peas, beans
Collards	Tomatoes
Comfrey  -P	Nutrient accumulator/mulch
Coriander/Cilantro	Anise, carrots, radish, chard	Fennel
Corn	Potato, peas, beans, cucumbers, pumpkin, squash, melons, marigolds, sunflowers, sunchokes
Cucumbers	Beans, corn, peas, radish, sunflowers, okra	Potato, aromatic herbs
Eggplant	Beans, okra
Fennel	Most annuals DO NOT like it	Coriander, wormwood
Garlic	Drip line of fruit trees, roses, tomatoes	Peas and beans
Horseradish  -P	Fruit trees, potatoes
Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) -P	Corn
Lavender  -P	Broccoli and cabbage family
Leek	Onions, celery, carrots
Lettuce	Carrots, radish, strawberry, cucumber	Celery, cabbage, cress, parsley
Melon	Corn, sunflowers, morning glory, okra	Potatoes
Mint  -P	Cabbage, tomatoes, nettles	Chamomile
Nettle	Increases oil content of most herbs
Okra	Melons, cucumbers, sweet peppers, eggplant
Onion and garlic	Beets, strawberry, tomato, lettuce, summer savory, chamomile, roses	Peas, beans
Parsley	Tomato, asparagus, roses, carrots
Peas	Carrots, turnips, radish, cucumber, corn, beans, potatoes, aromatic herbs	Onions, garlic, gladiolus
Peppers –sweet	Basil, okra
Potato	Beans, corn, cabbage, horseradish, marigold, eggplant	Pumpkin, squash, cucumber, sunflower, tomato, raspberry
Pumpkin	Datura, corn, pole beans,	Potato
Radish	Peas, nasturtium, lettuce, cucumber, beets, spinach, carrots, squash, melons, tomatoes, beans	Potato, hyssop
Rhubarb  -P	Columbines
Rue  -P	Roses, raspberries, fig trees	Basil
Sage  -P	Rosemary, cabbages, carrots,	Cucumbers
Savory –both  -P	Onions, beans	Cucumbers
Spinach	Strawberries, other greens
Squash	Nasturtium, corn, clover
Strawberries  -P	Beans, spinach, borage, lettuce	Cabbage
Sunflower	Cucumber	Potato
Sweet potato	White Hellebore
Tomato	Chives, onion, parsley, asparagus, marigold, nasturtium, carrot, garlic, roses, bee balm	Kohlrabi, potato, fennel, cabbage, corn
Turnip	Peas, vetch
Valerian  -P	Calendula, echinacea
Sweet woodruff  -P	Orchards
Watermelon	Potatoes mulched with straw*	*generally melons do not like potatoes
Fruit trees  -P	Chives, garlic, carrots, bulbs, borage, strawberries, nasturtiums, comfrey, plantain, columbine, daylilies	Bare soil

Above is a basic chart of companion plants; I’m sure there is a more expansive list out there.  This is simply a chart of plants we’ve been successful growing together -or not- over the years.  The plants are listed by the plants they like, the ones they don’t and also if they are a perennial (otherwise they are an annual or biannual in this Mediterranean climate).

Lavender, Borage, Plantain and Apple mint surround and nurture this Feijoa tree

I’m also working on a Plant Guild Matrix or species matrix chart which details various plants, their unique characteristics as well as their specific use and ecological function.  This type of chart easily organizes the mind when designing a plant guild and forest garden–which is a different way of thinking about species cooperation as compared to companion planting.  Plant guilds are composed of a central species -like an Apple tree- surrounded by nurturing plant species and occasional animal disturbance.  In essence companion planting is one aspect to consider when designing a plant guild…

I’ll post a follow up article 'BEYOND COMPANION PLANTING –‘Guild Building’ a Forest Garden' soon.

Companion Planting resources:

1. Stephanie & Brian Ladwig-Cooper (dba. Gaia Creations) experiences and trials for over 20 years
2. Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening Louise Riotte 1975 Revised Edition 1998 Storey Communications, Inc. ISBN: 1-58017-027-7
3. The Big Book of Gardening Skills by the Editors of Garden Way Publishing 1993 Storey Communications, Inc. ISBN: 0-88266-796-3
4. Edible Forest Gardens Volume 1 and 2 Ecological Design and Practice for Temperate-Climate Permaculture by David Jacke and Eric Toensmeier 2005 Chelsea Green Publishing Company ISBN: 1-931498-80-6