WILD VALLEY FARMS
  • Home
  • WHY WOOL?
  • Products
    • Home Garden Products >
      • Wool Pellets
      • Intelli-Soil
      • Super Compost Tea
      • Intelli-Mulch
      • Nurtiwool Pots
      • Woolly's Frost Guards
      • Scented Soap
    • Bulk Landscape Products >
      • Soils
      • Manures
      • Terra Zest
      • Colored Mulches
    • Commercial Products >
      • Processing Wool Pellets
      • Bulk Wool Pellets
      • Spore Block
  • Dealer
    • Become a Dealer
  • Store
  • Healthy Gardening Blog
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • In The News
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
  • Return Policy/Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Healthy Gardening

how to's  & Tips for your garden

Companion Planting for the 8 Most Popular Plants in Your Garden

3/2/2018

4 Comments

 
By Cindy Cloninger
Picture
Like all good friends, 'vegetable friends' help each other out. Did you know that onions & leeks repel carrot flies? Or that lettuce tenderizes summer radishes? Knowing which plants benefit the other is a secret to successful gardening. And who doesn't love hanging out with a good friend?
​​

There are lots of combinations of plants that grow really well together and have beneficial components for one another.  We’ve narrowed this overwhelming and sometimes confusing process down for you. We've compiled a list of the most common crops, with the most beneficial plants to put together to take the guesswork out of companion planting and guarantee you’ll reap the benefits.
Picture

What is companion planting?

While you may not have tried it, companion planting is all around us. The most common practice today comes from industrial farming where it is a common practice to plant vetch or legumes in the fall after harvest.  Native Americans used this practice but called it, Three Sisters, planting corn, beans, and squash together.
So why go to all the trouble to plant next to each other or in the same space?  The main benefits of companion planting are to provide mutually beneficial outcomes in soil nutrients, erosion control, weed control, deterring or attracting insects, and providing shade.
Picture

Tomato

Tomatoes grow tall and can provide shade for the more sun sensitive lettuce, cabbage, and other leafy greens. Basil repels common pests and if basil goes to seed will attract pollinators.
Other beneficial plants are carrots, asparagus, beans, celery, chive, cucumber, garlic, marigold, mint, onion, parsley, peppers.
​❌ Tomatoes do not like 
? corn, dill, fennel, potato, kohlrabi, and pole beans.
Tomatoes love our Terra Zest, it's our premium organic and all natural blend of manure, sawdust, and hygroscopic fiber (wool).  
Picture
Picture

Carrots

Picture
Carrots are a great friend to have around as they help tomatoes, onions, garlic, shallots, lettuce, leeks, and beans. They are loved in turn by those same plants in addition to chives, rosemary, wormwood, sage, and flax. Onions and leeks help out by repelling carrot flies.
​❌  But not friends with dill, parsnip, and radishes.
Naturally repel slugs and snails by mixing Wool Pellets into your soil. The microscopic wool fibers are little-barbed shields for all your garden plants.  Read 6 Reasons You Should Be Using Wool Pellets in Your Garden Soil to learn more.
Picture

Lettuce

Lettuce loves tomatoes as we mentioned above, but lettuce and chives are a great combo too. The strong smell of chives will deter Aphids who would attack your lettuce.  Adding Asylum will attract those beneficial insects that eat those munching on your leafy greens.
Lettuce is a help to beets, beans, okra, radishes, onions, broccoli, and carrots.
Lettuce is helped by onions, beans, carrots, cucumber, strawberries, broccoli, dill, beets, thyme, and cilantro.
​ 
​❌  But lettuce does not like ? celery, parsley, cress, and cabbage.
Picture
Picture

Peas

Picture
Cucumbers, carrots, beans, corn, radishes, early potatoes, lavender, and turnips are good friends to your peas.
​ 
​❌ However, peas do not like ? garlic, onions, leeks, and shallots.
Giving your plants great friends is just one layer in the making of a plentiful garden.  If you really want to have success, you'll need to make sure the soil is prepped and giving the right nutrients.  Starting your plants in Soft Soil, a blend of premium topsoil & compost, your garden will thrive on the full range of nutrients needed to maintain root health.
Picture

Cucumber

To repel cucumber beetles, sow cucumber and radish seeds together. Get the most from your cucumbers by planting them with marigolds, beets, garlic, celery, dill, carrots, peas, beans, sunflowers, and radishes. Cucumbers also provide benefits to beans, kohlrabi, and lettuce.
Cucumbers and squash spread fast and benefit from being planted in a nutrient-rich soil.  Learn how to soften your soil and the benefits and differences in compost in the articles. How Do I Soften My Soil? and ​Are There Differences in Compost and What are They?
Picture
Picture
Our last three have been planted together for hundreds of years so we’ve kept them together.

Squash, Beans, & Corn

Picture
Why not follow the tried and proven process engineered by Native Americans? 
The broad leaves of pumpkin and squash spread out reducing weeds and holding moisture. Beans ingeniously convert atmospheric nitrogen into a ready-to-use form for it’s plant friends. And corn gives the beans a place to climb.   
​
Squash is also benefited by marigolds, radishes, and buckwheat which will flower and attract needed insects.
Beans are also enhanced by beets, cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, marigolds, potatoes, rosemary, peppermint, and mustard.
Picture

Flowers

Adding if flowers around the borders of your garden and in between can attract pollinators, insects that will eat those that are a nuisance, and add beauty and color to the overall appearance of your garden beds.

Watch this great little video to learn why marigolds, buckwheat, lavender, daisies, and hollyhocks are great in your garden. And what some of the best flowers you haven’t even thought of to plant in your garden are.

What are your favorite garden combinations?

Picture

Recap the best vegetable friends with this quick slideshow:

Cindy Cloninger

Virtual Assistant, blog manager, email & social media marketing assistant, web development. I enjoy hiking, fresh fruits & veggies, planting flowers, cooking great meals. But I love being a wife and mother the most.  When I'm not doing all of those, I love to read and try new things.   No matter the forecast, live like it's spring.

4 Comments
Michelle link
1/7/2022 06:06:52 am

Great Article! Thank you for sharing this is very informative post, and looking forward to the latest one. If you are looking for hydroponic supplies here in Australia just visit thegrowshop dot com dot au.

Reply
Companion Planter link
2/6/2023 07:23:17 am

Wonderful article. Thank you for sharing. :)

Reply
Judie link
4/15/2024 10:09:38 am

What if anything is horse tails good for? What gets rid of moles ? Love this site . Thank you I want to join in.
Judie

Reply
Stephanie Strope
6/8/2024 12:40:01 pm

What exactly is meant by "does not like"? Does this mean they shouldn't be planted near each other at all? I've planted lettuce next to celery and my potatoes next to tomatoes. Is this going to cause them issues? All plants are just sharing boxes and not on top of each other.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    October 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017

    Categories

    All
    Compost
    Compost Tea
    Fun Friday Facts
    Gardening Basics
    Meet Wild Valley Farms Who Are We?
    Meet Wild Valley Farms - Who Are We?
    Mulch
    Planning Your Garden
    Wool Pellets

    RSS Feed

Product Categories

Home Garden Products
Bulk Landscape Products
Commercial Products
Terms and Conditions
Return Policy
Picture
Picture
Picture

[email protected]

Hours:
Monday - Friday  9:00AM - 6:00PM
Saturday  9:00AM - 12:00PM
Sunday  Closed

Phone:   435-400-4373

 6000 E. Croydon Rd.   Croydon, UT 84018
Photos from blumenbiene, lundyd, James St. John, moonlightbulb, vastateparksstaff, blumenbiene, Ajithpoison, chatirygirl, iainmerchant, blumenbiene, thinkactlove, blumenbiene, TheChili.Life, daryl_mitchell, idovermani, Kent Wang, grits2go, TinyTall, saiberiac, drbooya, Ben+Sam, Red Moon Sanctuary, Michele Dorsey Walfred, FoodCraftLab, imke.sta, blumenbiene, blumenbiene, katherine.shill, Los Angeles County Arboretum, ednl, noricum
  • Home
  • WHY WOOL?
  • Products
    • Home Garden Products >
      • Wool Pellets
      • Intelli-Soil
      • Super Compost Tea
      • Intelli-Mulch
      • Nurtiwool Pots
      • Woolly's Frost Guards
      • Scented Soap
    • Bulk Landscape Products >
      • Soils
      • Manures
      • Terra Zest
      • Colored Mulches
    • Commercial Products >
      • Processing Wool Pellets
      • Bulk Wool Pellets
      • Spore Block
  • Dealer
    • Become a Dealer
  • Store
  • Healthy Gardening Blog
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • In The News
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
  • Return Policy/Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy