Companion planting guide
Choose a plant and see which others it is traditionally grown with and which it is kept away from. The guide lists only widely repeated pairings. It is traditional gardening lore: evidence for many pairs is thin, so treat it as a starting idea, not a rule.
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How to use it
- Pick the plant you want to grow.
- Read the plants it is traditionally grown with, and those gardeners keep apart from it.
- Use the lists when planning beds, and always allow the spacing your seed packet gives.
How it works
The guide holds a small table of well-known pairs, each marked as a good neighbour or one to keep apart. A pair is read in both directions, so tomato–basil appears under both plants. Nothing is calculated.
Example
Choosing Tomato lists basil, carrot, onion, marigold and lettuce as traditional companions, and potato, cabbage, sweet corn and dill as plants to keep apart.
Tips
- Rotate crops each year whatever the pairings say.
- Pairs that share a disease are the most practical to separate.
- Mixing flowers and herbs into vegetable beds does no harm and helps pollinators.
Frequently asked questions
Does companion planting really work?
Some pairings have a clear practical reason, such as tall plants shading lettuce or beans and corn sharing a frame. Many others rest on tradition and the evidence is mixed or missing. Use the guide as a prompt to experiment.
What are the three sisters?
A traditional planting of sweet corn, beans and squash together: the corn gives the beans something to climb, the beans are legumes, and the squash leaves cover the ground. The guide lists all three as companions.
Why are some plants kept apart?
Usually because they share pests or diseases, as tomatoes and potatoes share blight, or because one is said to stunt the other. The reasons are also traditional and not all are proven.
Why is the list so short?
Only well-known pairings are included, so the guide does not suggest links that rest on weak claims. If a pair is missing, that means nothing is listed, not that it is good or bad.