Companion Planting

Growing herbs with other plants.

Companion planting is a method of planting different plants together so that one plant can benefit the growth of another. This method is used particularly as a form of natural pest control. Quite often it is the scent of the companion plant which deters the pest and as many herbs are strongly scented they can be useful companion plants, particularly in a kitchen garden.

A good example of this would be the carrot, and the carrot root fly. If you plant onions or chives close to your carrots the smell of the onions will mask the smell of the carrots, making them less likely to be attacked by the carrot root fly. In the same way, companion planting French marigolds with tomatoes will deter whiteflies.

Leeks, onions and garlic also deter slugs, so if you companion plant your salad leaves with them you stand a chance of being able to pick leaves that are not full of holes!

Another benefit of companion planting is that the diversity of plants in the beds is attractive to many beneficial insects. Some of these will quickly dispose of the undesirables eating your crops and others will pollinate for you.

Below is a table which shows which plants are good companion plants and which combinations should be avoided.

French marigolds with  tomato plants

Herbs as companion plants

Crop	Good Companion for	Pests repelled	Do not plant with
Basil	tomatoes	whiltefly, flies	Rue
Bay	beans	moths, weevils
Borage	tomatoes	tomato worm
Coriander	all vegetables	aphids
Chervil	radish
Chives	carrots	carrot root fly
Dill	cabbage		carrots, caraway
Garlic	roses, raspberries	aphids
Hyssop	cabbage	cabbage white butterflies	radish
Marigold (French)	most plants	nematodes, aphids
Mint	cabbage, tomatoes	cabbage white butterflies, apids, flea beetles
Nasturtium	radish, cabbage, pumpkin	aphids
Oregano	all brassicas	cabbage white butterflies
Pot marigold	tomatoes, asparagus	tomato worm, asparagus beetles, whitefly
Rosemary	cabbage, carrots, beans	cabbage white butterflies, carrot fly
Sage	cabbage, carrots	cabbage moth, carrot fly, flea beetle, slugs	cucumber
Summer savory	beans	bean beetles
Thyme	cabbage	cabbage worm