Companion Planting with Common Herbs

Companion planting with herbs is a positive way to mix herbs in with your vegetables.  This helps both plants grow healthier, improve your harvest and helps reduce garden maintenance. Mix these common herbs in with your garden bed this season and reap the benefits.

Herb gardening is a fun hobby! Most herbs are actually weeds. As such, herbs are usually incredibly easy to grow. Not only do herbs provide flavor, fragrance and medicinal value, they can also provide support for your vegetable plants.

Companion Planting with Common Herbs

Companion planting means planting certain types of plants together to provide protection, and promote the health of one another. Herbs are a great option to add to any garden because their aromatic qualities repel many unwanted insects. When planted with vegetables, herbs protect the other plants, allowing for an even better harvest.

Companion Planting with Basil

Basil is arguably one of the most common and most used herbs. This annual is easy to grow and prefers fertile, rich soil.

There are a number of vegetables that thrive when planted with basil: Asparagus, beans, beets, bell peppers, cabbage, chili peppers, lettuce, eggplant, potatoes and tomatoes.

How does basil help?

Basil does an excellent job of ridding your garden of bugs. Basil has a strong aroma, that will repel aphids, mosquitoes, tomato horn worms and white flies. If you allow basil to flower, this herb will also attract pollinators to your garden.

It’s rumored that basil will improve the taste of your tomatoes too. Planted near tomatoes, both the basil and tomatoes are said to be better and more flavorful.

Related: How to Grow and Harvest Basil

Companion Planting with Cilantro

Cilantro (also called coriander) is a common herb with a very distinct taste. Whether you love it or hate it, it’s very popular and easy to grow. Cilantro is a part of the carrot family an enjoys well drained soil.

Cilantro grows well with a number of vegetables: Asparagus, chervil and spinach

How Does Cilantro Help?

Cilantro repels certain bugs, mainly aphids, potato beetles and spider mites. This herb will also bring helpful bugs to the garden, such as, parasitoid wasps and hoverflies.

Cilantro also assists in providing nitrogen to the soil. Vegetables that benefit from higher levels of nitrogen will benefit from cilantro.

Cilantro will improve the growth of tomatoes. However, planting cilantro next to tomatoes will encourage foliage growth, but stunt the growth of the fruit itself.

Companion Planting with Mint

Mint is a very common herb for landscapers. It’s easy to grow and thrives with little maintenance. There are many vegetables that benefit from having this hardy herb around. However, it’s important to keep mint pruned or it will take over your entire garden.

Mint grows well with and helps these vegetables thrive: Beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, Cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, kale, lettuce, onion, peas, radish, squash and tomatoes

How Does Mint Help?

Mint repels flea beetles, carrot root fly, onion fly, aphids and many other pests. Its strong aroma keeps most insects at bay. Because of its invasive nature, keeping the mint close, but not planting directly next to the vegetables, will provide the most benefits. Consider planting them in a container and placing this herb near your vegetables.

Companion Planting with Oregano

One of my favorite herbs, oregano (Greek oregano) is a versatile plant that is hardy and aromatic. It is rumored that oregano is a good companion to all vegetables! However, plant oregano with vegetables that require the same soil conditions for the best results.

Oregano enjoys well drained, slightly dry soil and provides the most benefit for: Asparagus, cabbage, corn and tomatoes

How does Oregano Help?

Oregano flowers with tiny white blooms that are aromatic, attracting bees and other pollinators to your garden.

This herb is also great at repelling cabbage moths, plant oregano near any brassicas to benefit from this. Similar to mint, it’s hardy and easy to grow, Oregano can be planted in a container and placed near any vegetable to provide benefits.

Companion Planting with Parsley

Parsley is a soft, easy to grow, annual that does well in almost any garden. Although this herb provides little flavor to meals, especially when compared to other herbs, this plant encourages the growth of the plants around it.

Parsley helps these vegetables thrive: Asparagus, carrots, chives, corn, onions, peas, peppers and tomatoes

How does Parsley Help?

Parsley is great because it attracts the positive insects to your garden. Swallowtail butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves, attracting many pollinators to your garden. Parsley also attracts hoverflies. The larvae of hoverflies will eat aphids and other insects.

This plant will also repel harmful beetles, such as the asparagus beetle. It is rumored that asparagus benefits the most from parsley.

RELATED: How we grow thousands of pounds of food without weeding or watering!

Companion Planting with Rosemary

Rosemary is one of the most aromatic herbs in the garden. This plant is hardy and bush-like and grows in almost any condition. Its strong smell is what benefits the plants around it.

Rosemary enjoys being planted with: Cabbage (and any Brassica), carrots, and beans

How Does Rosemary Help?

The strong aroma from the rosemary is great at repelling insects. For cabbage (and all brassicas), rosemary will repel cabbage butterflies and moths. If you're planting carrots, rosemary will repel carrot root flies. For beans, rosemary will repel the weevils and bean beetles.

Rosemary grows well with sage, as they thrive in similar growing conditions. As with many of the other herbs, when rosemary flowers it will attract many pollinators to the garden too!

Companion Planting with Sage

Sage is an excellent herb for hearty meat dishes. Aside from its wonderful kitchen benefits, sage is helpful in the garden too! Like many other herbs, its aromatic properties provide benefits to fruits and vegetables.

Sage grows best when planted with: Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, grapes and strawberries

How Does Sage Help?

Sage repels many insects, including carrot root flies, flea beetles, and white cabbage moths and butterflies. This herb should be planted near any Brassica, to deter pests. They also help repel insects that harm strawberry plants.

Sage is also rumored to help in the growth and overall health of grapevines. Plant near the vines for thriving plants and a healthy harvest.

Companion Planting with Thyme

This wonderful herb grows will in very hardy conditions. As with many of the other herbs, its main benefit is repelling insects.

Thyme helps protect and encourage the growth of: Cabbage, eggplant, potatoes and strawberries

How Does Thyme Help?

Thyme does a great job at repelling harmful insects. Some of these insects include cabbage worms, corn earworms, tomato hornworms and flea beetles.

This herb also attracts beneficial insects to the garden, such as hoverflies, which kill and eat aphids, thrips, caterpillars and other pests.

When allowing thyme to flower, this herb will also attract pollinators to the garden, as well as predator insects.

Related: Growing and Harvesting Thyme

Companion planting with herbs is a great way to encourage a healthy vegetable garden. Many of the most common and popular herbs will provide real protection and improve the harvest of your vegetables.

Consider each of these benefits as you plan your garden this season!

MORE GARDENING TIPS: If you're searching for more ways to improve your garden, these 5  Expert Gardening Tips to Save Time and Money will be helpful. Also consider How to Make Organic Mushroom Compost, to get your garden started the right way!

 

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