Growing These Vegetables Together Will Give You the Best, Most Delicious Results
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Companion planting is an age-old gardening technique that can help you naturally grow healthier, more abundant vegetables. By pairing the right plants, you create a natural ecosystem where your carrots and onions, for instance, support each other, offering benefits like pest control, healthier soil, and even better flavor. For someone new to edible gardens, this gardening method can feel like sprinkling fairy dust, a silver bullet to a thriving culinary garden. To help you get a certifiable green thumb, we spoke with three experts to walk through seven harmonious vegetable groupings, a.k.a. a little bit of gardening magic.
Corn, Beans and Squash
Loren Taylor, a landscaping and gardening specialist and owner of Outdoor Fountain Pros, calls corn, beans, and squash the “three sisters.” “They work so well together,” Taylor notes. “Corn provides a structure for the beans to eventually climb up, while the beans fix nitrogen in the soil.” As for the squash, it spreads across the ground, helping to suppress weeds and also retain soil moisture. Be sure to plant the corn first (after the danger of frost has passed). From there, get your beans in the ground when the corn stalks are a few inches tall, and right after the beans sprout, plant your squash.
Carrots and Onions
When it comes to veggie companions, most pairings work by one of them keeping pests away from the other—hence, giving them a fair chance to grow. That’s the case with carrots and onions. “Onions are known to mask the scent of the carrots to keep carrot flies away,” says Taylor. Additionally, carrots have deep roots while onions have shallow roots, so they don’t compete for water and nutrients. Taylor says leeks also work great as an alternative companion for carrots.
Lettuce and Onions
Speaking of onions, they also work well with lettuces of all types. “Not only do they deter pests, but they also discourage rabbits.” explains Nicole Burke, culinary gardening expert and owner of Gardenary. “Lettuce can also provide shade for carrots in warmer weather, keeping them cool, while carrots keep the soil nice and loose for lettuce roots.” Just like with carrots, lettuce and onions have different root depths, so they play well together in the same garden bed.
Tomatoes and Basil
Tomatoes and basil are a culinary powerhouse, both on your plate and in the garden. “Basil can naturally repel pests like aphids, whiteflies, and even mosquitoes,” says horticulturalist Erik Collado Vidal. “This is important because it helps to protect the tomato plant without needing to use chemicals.” Tomatoes are also fairly heavy on the nutrient needs, and basil is low-maintenance. It takes little but gives plenty, attracting pollinators like bees, which are essential for tomato pollination and production.
Cabbage and Dill
Another beneficial vegetable and herb marriage is cabbage and dill. “This applies to anything in the cabbage family, whether that’s cabbage, broccoli or kale,” says Taylor. “Dill is so fragrant and attracts beneficial insects that prey on caterpillars and cabbage moths.” Another plus? Dill boosts cabbage growth and is also said to enhance its flavor. As dill is not frost-hardy, be sure to wait until the spring after your cabbage is established to plant.
Broccoli and Beans
Beans are wildly helpful for so many different vegetables and plantings, but they work especially well as a companion plant with broccoli. “Beans are natural nitrogen-fixers, pulling nitrogen from the air and enriching the soil, which makes them ideal partners for heavy feeders, like broccoli, spinach, or even corn, which need a lot of nutrients to thrive.” The beans help the broccoli to grow, while the broccoli helps improve the flavor of the beans. Win, win.
Cucumbers and Radishes
Finally, two crisp fixings that are well suited for each other in the ground and in the salad bowl: Cucumbers and radishes. Burke notes that “radishes act as a trap crop, luring away pesky cucumber beetles and protecting your cukes from damage.” They also improve aeration and drainage of your soil, which creates ideal ground conditions for cucumbers. In turn, gherkins and radishes don’t compete for space, as radishes are grown below ground and cucumbers above, ideally on a trellis.
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