Thank you, Anna! What great information. I'm so glad you shared your gardening experience with companion planting. This is a good time to start planning the garden and your advise will be very helpful.

Many years ago when I had a big garden, I found growing peas great for everything: the soil, whatever they were growing with, and even the kids when they were young & wouldn't eat anything green (they'd eat peas, pod & all & love them!)

Reading the Roses Love Garlic book (I hope that's what it's called but I'm an old woman so please forgive me!) changed my gardening life.

Here on the patio I find that my roses love herbs, the tomatoes love cilantro, & everything loves chives! I've planted herbs in pretty much every pot & they seem to make everything grow better plus they keep the soil moist, an important attribute here in the hot dry desert of Southern California!

I just found marigolds in the local garden center this week & I've squeezed them in w roses & tomatoes too.

Wikipedia's definition:-

Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial creatures, maximizing use of space, and to otherwise increase crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of polyculture.

I have a flower bed in my veg plot to attract the pollinators but the most crucial item to me is 'Maximizing use of space'.
Plant lettuce amongst Tomatoes, Carrots, most root crops because you will be harvesting the Lettuce way before the other crops mature.
I grow Cucumbers alongside my Grape Vine and they quite happily intertwine.
I have a Plumeria in a large pot and I sow a few Pole Beans around the edge of the pot and they use the Plumeria to climb.
Most plants will happily co-exist so don't be afraid to experiment.
Happy Gardening👍

Englishgardener said:Wikipedia's definition:-

Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial creatures, maximizing use of space, and to otherwise increase crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of polyculture.

I have a flower bed in my veg plot to attract the pollinators but the most crucial item to me is 'Maximizing use of space'.
Plant lettuce amongst Tomatoes, Carrots, most root crops because you will be harvesting the Lettuce way before the other crops mature.
I grow Cucumbers alongside my Grape Vine and they quite happily intertwine.
I have a Plumeria in a large pot and I sow a few Pole Beans around the edge of the pot and they use the Plumeria to climb.
Most plants will happily co-exist so don't be afraid to experiment.
Happy Gardening👍

I agree completely. I grow my crops by Square Foot Gardening, but there is always room for experimentation. I grew corn in one whole 3'x8' bed last year with melons between then and pole beans up the corn.

Although it didn't work well (I just don't get enough sunlight for corn, they TRIED and I stay interested in future attempts and a better location.

And some companion plantings DID work. A cantaloupe grew well among my trellised pole beans, and Fall snow peas grew up my tomato cages to no problem for the tomatoes which were way larger then.

Take it for what it's worth - I'm not a student of companion planting, however there is something interesting taking place in my garden this year.
There are 6 pots of zinnias. Having seeds to spare, I tossed some in the few square inches of space between the oregano plants in another pot. Despite a regular regime of spraying and care, the 6 pots of zinnias are afflicted to varying degrees with some kind of persistent fungus/insect, or maybe a combo of both, that I am struggling to keep under control. Aside from a few pinholes, the zinnias in the oregano pot are healthy and blemish-free, despite the crowding due to the bushy growth habit of the herb.
I aim to plant some oregano in the other zinnia pots, now, to observe whether it can alleviate a problem already in progress. (Will update this post if anything changes )

Will be interested in reading that update.

That is interesting Solarium. It could very well be that the basil is keeping whatever pest from those zinnias. Many times strong scented herbs will deter pests because the smell is confusing the pest from knowing the desired plant is there. Looking forward to your update!

lovemyhouse:

for your interest. I hope the beneficial relationship between these plants will endure thru the season! So far, so good.

wildflowers:

for the info. and your interest. That is probably it, the herb is quite pungent. Those plants are still looking healthy even after a substantial period of rain last evening, which left the other zinnias with more brown splotches.

Diversity plantings definitely have merit. Interplanting herbs with other plants sounds like a good plan.

I noticed that my broccoli at the community garden that had a border (less than 1 ft.) on one side of marigolds and chamomile on the other had no holes from white cabbage moth larvae. It seemed to protect it. I have planted a second crop within established chamomile to see if it will work without the marigolds.

FrugalGramma said:I noticed that my broccoli at the community garden that had a border (less than 1 ft.) on one side of marigolds and chamomile on the other had no holes from white cabbage moth larvae. It seemed to protect it. I have planted a second crop within established chamomile to see if it will work without the marigolds.

Do you recall how this worked out for you?

When I planted blackberries near my tomato the hornworms disappeared. Before that, I put a live hornworm on top of my porch eave so the mockingbird could see it. He liked it a lot and started picking some of them off for me.

This is my only successful companion planting at the moment.
There are 4 different types of aloe.
I know, it's not a shocker they are doing well.

My next project... Sweet potatoes and shallots.
Farmer's Almanac doesn't say they have a problem planted together, so I'm going to try it.

leaflady said:My eggplant seems to do well with the various mints. Yard Long beans do so- so with morning glories. The mgs will smother out the beans if I don't work hard at controlling them.

Potatoes and onions did ok except that the potatoes eventually smothered the onions.

Asparagus and tomatoes grow well together but become to entangled to suit me.

Winter squash did well in the flower beds and kept the weeds down just a bit. I also tend to weed more when food is planted in a bed.

Grapes and blackberries grow well together. I let Gill Over the Ground and Henbit take over the ground level. They do seem to deter some insects.

GOD bless and keep each of you.

What kind of list are you looking for Melissa?

This is a great thread! Though I've been slow to get started, I've been working on a number of different companion planting ideas. From my research a while back, a few of the big things to make room for all over the place were alliums (pest control), legumes (nitrogen fixing), yarrow (enhanced essential oils), marigold (if I can keep it happy enough to reseed!; pest control), artemisia (pest control), and ruta (pest control). I'm sure there's more, but these are the ones that stood out to me as both very effective and favorable.

So I've planted Yarrow throughout my orchard, as a preferred groundcover around the trees. If kept mowed (no flowers), it makes a good alternative lawn for sunny spaces! Very soft ferny leaves.

I've got various kinds of Artemisia getting started around my propagating area... and is it a coincidence that this year that area has not been pestered by pests to any significant degree? I had been thinking it had to do with a high diversity of plants, but maybe it actually is the artemisia at work.

I have plans for Ruta graveolens (Rue) to be planted along the street with all my flowering cherries, because one of the things it repels is beetles. Every summer those trees have been getting virtually defoliated by Japanese Beetles... and maybe that is why there seems to be a new dead one every year... So I'm hoping that the Rue will work to keep them off those trees. In one year, I had some planted at the base of the end tree... which happened to also be the prettiest... and I wonder if that is -why- it was the prettiest?

Legumes and Alliums we all know about, although it should be noted that they don't mix well. Something about the onions inhibits the legumes, so plan wisely. Also, since I don't want to be planting bulb onions all over my yard, I've been looking for my favorite ornamental types to act as companions. The best of both worlds!

Finally, beneficial nematodes that I applied one spring made the difference between peach borer the year previous, and none since that single application around the tree. (I used Pot Poppers from Amazon, because it had the right kind of nematode I was looking for in an easy to use form). Apparently they're good against a lot of soil pests, so I use them anywhere such might be an issue. Beneficial microbes can similarly be used against disease agents, and also soil pests. It sure makes gardening more fun not to have to run into these problems!

I have strawberries interplanted with asparagus. The leaves from the strawberries help to preserve moisture for the asparagus.