Companion Planting

What is Companion Planting, you ask? I was telling some friends about companion planting and one asked, “Is that when you plant something and a ‘companion’ plants something else and you share?” No, that’s not what companion planting is. Companion Plants are plants that help one another either by attracting good insects, keeping bad insects away or helping in other ways. For instance, pole beans and corn grow very well together because the beans provide nitrogen for the corn. Basil and tomatoes go very well together because the basil keeps bad insects away from the tomato plants. Tomatoes also like hot peppers. So, when you plant your tomatoes, put a basil and hot pepper plant somewhere in the midst of them. There are many other plants that get along well with one another and there are many plants that do not get along well with one another. Who knew that you can’t plant onions and garlic together; or that you can’t plant brassica family (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, etc.) together. I’ve learned a lot about companion planting from a couple of Kindle books – “Companion Planting: Learn the secrets to companion Gardening with Flowers, Herbs and Vegetables” by Joann Robertson; and, “Companion Planting: The Beginner’s Guide to Companion Gardening” by M. Grande.

I have compiled a Companion Planting Chart to make things a little easier for you. However, it does not have all of the plants that are in the books. I only used the most common vegetables, herbs and berries that are grown in the area. Green Dots are for the plants that are okay together and Red Dots are for the ones that don’t play well together. If there is no dot in a space then it’s probably a good idea to avoid them. There are two plants that I put the dots next to the name of the plant. That means that either any plant is okay, or no plants are okay.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the Chart.