Companion Planting and Attracting Beneficial Insects to Your Garden

Companion planting is a great way to encourage the health of your garden. There are certain plants that, when planted together, will protect each other by attracting pollinators, repelling pests, and increasing plant productivity. One obvious benefit of this is the reduction of pesticides in the garden, as even organic pesticides can be toxic to bees and other pollinators. 

We just love pollinators, don’t you?

Besides companion planting, we can also practice crop rotation, use row covers, and trap and handpick pests to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. If, as a last resort, we have to use a pesticide, we recommend to always try to choose a pest-specific one, such as BT for caterpillars. To protect pollinators, do not use pesticides on open blossoms. If using a broadcast spray, beneficial insects can be collateral damage and the damaging bugs can return in force, so be specific when spraying.

Creating a diverse garden by planting various heights and shapes of flowers and plants will attract pollinators and beneficials from spring through to fall. Create a nesting habitat by leaving areas with dry grasses, a small brush pile, some dead wood, and a muddy area. All of these things provide essential nesting and over-wintering material for bees and insects.

We also recommend planting as many flowers as vegetables for a healthy population of pollinators. Weave clusters of old fashioned open pollinated flowers in and around your fruits and vegetables. Some plants, such as tomatoes, can be self-pollinating. For plants like these, companion planting can be used to repel damaging insects. 

Marigolds are one of the most effective repellents for bad bugs and can be interplanted with your garden vegetables. Other flowering friends for vegetable gardens include: alyssum, bachelor's button, bee balm (monarda), nasturtiums, California poppy, phacelia, calendula, cosmos, and cleome.  

Leaving some herbs to bloom in the garden also attracts both beneficials and pollinators. Particularly effective are basil, thyme, hyssop, dill, and oregano. Catnip repels flea beetles, so plant close to peas and beans. Borage repels tomato worms.

Companion planting is about creating plant communities that have mutual benefits to each other. With some planning, we can create a healthy garden that provides us with food and joy. What could be better than that?

Plant Name	Plant Close to	Keep away from
Beets	Brassicas, onions, kohlrabi	Field mustard, pole beans
Borage	Squash, Strawberries, tomatoes
Broccoli	Beets, chamomile, dill, hyssop, mint, nastursiums, herbs	Strawberries
Bush Beans	Beets, cabbage, carrots	fennel, garlic, onions
Cabbage, Cauliflower	Celery, chard, spinach, (tomatoes and celery repel cabbage worms)	Strawberries
Carrots	Cabbage, chives, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas. Onions, leeks, and wormwood repel carrot rust files.
Chives	Apples, berries, carrots, peas. Chives deter aphids and Japanese beetles.
Corn	Beans, cucumbers, melons, peas, pumpkins, squash
Cucumbers	Beans, cabbage, corn, radishes, sunflowers
Dill	Brassicas	Carrots
Eggplant	Green beans, peppers,tomatoes
Fennel	Plant outside the veggie garden.	Not a good companion plant for any vegetable.
Garlic	Cabbage, cane fruits, roses.	Peas, beans
Kale	Aromatic herbs, cabbage family, marigolds, nastursiums	Pole beans, strawberries
Kohlrabi	Cabbage/cauliflower family	Tomatoes, fennel, polebeans
Lettuce	Beets, carrots, parsnip	Cabbage family
Marigolds	Plant everywhere! Marigolds stimulate vegetable growth, deter bean beetles, aphids, squash bugs.
Mint	Deters flea beetles. Spreads enthusiastically so best planted in a pot.
Nastursiums	Beans, greenhouse crops, potatoes, pumpkins, squash. Repels aphids, potato bugs, squash bugs, and white flies in greenhouses.
Onions	Beets, cabbage family, carrots, lettuce, parsnips	Beans, peas
Parsley	Corn, roses, tomatoes. Provides food for swallowtail butterfly caterpillars
Parsnips	Onions, radishes
Peas	Beans, carrots, corn, cukes	Garlic, leeks, onions
Peppers	Basil, carrots, eggplant, onions	Fennel, kohlrabi
Pole Beans	Corn, marigolds, radishes	onions, garlic beets
Potatoes	Basil, beans, corn, eggplant, marigolds, peas, squash	Cucumbers, pumpkins, raspberries, sunflowers
Rosemary	Beans, cabbage, carrots
Sage	Carrots, cabbage family	Cucumbers
Spinach	Celery, cauliflower, eggplant
Strawberries	Borage, bush beans, lettuce, spinach	Cabbage family
Sunflowers	Cucumbers, sunflowers can provide trellis for and shade for cucumbers.	Potatoes
Swiss Chard	Bush beans, onions, kohlrabi	Pole beans
Thyme	All garden crops, deters cabbage moths
Tomatoes	Asparagus, basil, cabbage family	Fennel, potatoes
Turnips	Carrots, parsley, onions, sage	Kohlrabi