Why Vegetables Need Friends: Companion Planting Made Simple 🌺 

2 years ago I was killing dozens of hornworms on my tomato plants. Last year I planted marigolds underneath and didn't have a single hornworm. My wife also planted an entire flower bed nearby with calendula for making soap and salve, and my garden was pretty much pest free other than the fall grasshoppers.

Great info Ben! I've always included a few companion plants in our gardens, but last year I really made a conscious effort to include as many as possible. WOW what a difference! The gardens were full of marigolds, zinnias, calendula, nasturtium, basil, and borage, and I can honestly say after almost 17 years this was the best my garden has ever produced, even with the terrible weather last summer. Not only were the beneficial bugs plentiful, but the pest population seemed much reduced, AND it was astonishingly beautiful. I loved going out to weed and to watch the bees, butterflies, wasps, hoverflies, hummingbirds, etc early in the morning. It was so peaceful. This year I have similar plants planned, with full rows of pollinator strips throughout. If anyone reading this hasn't tried companion planting yet, I highly recommend it!!!!! Even just a few zinnias and marigolds to start with are helpful, beautiful, and grow easily from inexpensive seed packets💚

I heard something years ago that has to do with companion planting. 'If it tastes good together, it grows well together' Certainly true for tomatoes and basil.

I'm in Tennessee. I grew basil around my tomatoes last season and noticed a sharp decrease in pests in comparison to years past. You can't go wrong with basil between the benefits from companion planting, the smell, and cooking uses it's a definite win.

Last year I mistakenly ordered Holy Basil or Tulsi instead of basil. It grew very well and attracted a huge number of different pollinators. It was at the edge of a path to the greenhouse and got brushed every time I walked by. The aroma was wonderful. I added it to my list of “companions” for this year. Easy to grow from seed with lovely little blue flowers. Highly recommended.

I’ve had so much success planting marigolds with tomatoes!

I want to thank you for noting differences from your garden and those in North America. I really appreciate those notes, it’s so kind of you. ❤️

I grow garlic the year round. Agreed, at times there is no hope of a decently formed bulb, however, the leaves are edible, while the scent is still strong enough to do the job of repelling.

I’ve been doing this for the last few years, and saw that it does work and help. Nasturtiums were amazing! They saved a lot of my veggies bc they migrated to them instead. They taste so good as well, and help with pain. I ate the leaves when I had a toothache and it relived my pain until I was able to get to the dentist.

For years now, I put carrots and onions together. Succesfully. Thank you for your videos!

I’m trying to do more companion planting this year. I do know for a fact Basil does indeed keep bad bugs away from pepper plants. I had planted my Basil at the end of my pepper plants and never had any problems at all with any of the plants. In fact they were the prettiest plants in my garden. The yum yum mini peppers and jalapeños peppers produce the most and the green bell produce a lot too, however the peppers were on the small side. I now know to plant Basil next to my tomato plants and plan to grow different varieties of Basil too. Still learning as I grow! Thank you for sharing your knowledge as to what works!

I actually made an app that did this exact thing as a school project a couple of years ago. We didn't have a lot of combinations in our app but I found it super cool

Moved to a new state last year and put in a rushed garden. It did well, even though for the past 75 years it was dry grass hay fields. I did a couple companion plantings around the tomatoes and peppers. This year I'm going hog-wild. I am even doing my corn, half traditional rows and half 3 sisters. I am also looking at companion plants that can be dried and used as tea. Every plant and every animal on my place has to do their own share of work.

Big fan of companion planting, planting flowers and herbs alongside my vegetables. Interestingly nettles have so much benefit in the garden, they deter blackfly and attract lady birds. I grow clumps of yarrow which is a great compost activator and attracts lots of hoverflies. I like to plant flowers which attract insects and birds into the garden, Teasil is said to attract Goldfinches and Sweet Rocket attracts the Orange Tip butterfly. Flowers herbs and vegetables look beautiful interplanted and it's so nice when working you smell all the lovely smells of Chamomile. mint and thymes

Every time I've had nasturtium in my garden I find that they actually attract more cabbage butterfly larvae to both them and everything around them than when I haven't - they reeeally love them! So my advice is to use them sparingly unless you do plant a lot of cabbage and broccoli type plants.

Ben my wife and I have learned so much watching your videos! Thank you for taking the time to make them!

I had just a few nasturtium sprouts last year... They kind of struggled along for a little while but then boom! They became the most vibrant plants in the garden. They almost took over a whole raised bed, and the offspring of that are sprouting this week as volunteers. All the blooms on last year's variety were hot tomato red.

Well, I was accidentally doing good things, lol. I have planted marigolds in the garden for years. But the last two or three, I planted nasturtiums, just because. And a plant we call “4 o”clocks”. This year my garden was so lovely with all the flowers. But I will definitely put them around the potatoes ! I fight that battle every year ! And basil with tomatoes, whoda thunk it ? There’s also the “3 sisters”. Corn, squash and beans. American Indian staple. We are in a deep freeze here. It’s a welcome video before I get on my piles of garments and go feed the animals . Brrrr ! Have a Blessed Sunday!

Another great video. I’ve always grown marigolds everywhere in the veg patch, and started planted onions in the carrot bed a number of years ago. I’ve had great success eliminating the carrot fly. I tend to plant calendula and nasturtiums everywhere, so I guess that’s a good thing 🤓👍🏻🌱

Love this software. Gives me some excellent day dreaming during the winter months and allows me to maximize what I can grow throughout the year.

Inspired by Tony Smith, Emmas Allotment Diaries, Green Side Up, Lifesabooch, Malcolm Kingswell, Jessie at Plot 37 and now you. Not sure when I'm going to find time to watch all the blogs and still get the work done on my Allotment. Have access to a large plot (0.75 of an acre). Plan is to create a community resource. Have a few volunteers in the team so far and made connections with a local food bank and support groups for survivors of domestic violence and people suffering from anxiety. I'm going to record the progress, not initially for blogging reasons but for progress reporting. Thank you for inspiring me. My seed potatoes will start chitting this week I think. Red Duke of York is one of mine. No idea what I am letting myself in for. Very little experience. But I find myself really excited. Time to graft ......

Maintaining a 3500 sq ft inground garden is ever so much easier with the Garden Planner! I've been using it for years now, and it not only helps with companion planting, but it keeps track of where I planted, making crop rotation a breeze!

Always enjoy your videos.I appreciate how you let us know here in the states the difference in how plants do from your location to ours. I am doing more and more companion planting each year. I try different plants each year.

I really believe plants help each. I had a Prayer plant that did not do much for a year. Never seen to grow. I put it by my Peace Lilly and now there's no stopping it. It is almost as big as the older one.💚💚💚💚

I have an allotment based in the UK. I planted nasturtiums in courgette and Bean beds last year and had great success. Bees and flowers everywhere. Am expecting the nasturtiums to have self seeded so , same again this year. Basil and peppers was also a great idea.

I used the Garden Planner last year and their suggestions for companion planting and felt it really helped me step up my game!

Very thought provoking video, I'm suffering from spring fever watching this and we're about to get the worst winter storm of the year in midwestern Ohio! 🥶 Thanks for the tip about nasturtium and brassica's 😉

I will definitely be upping my companion planting game this year. And I'm loving the garden planner to keep track of what I want to put where. Thanks!

I finally got nasturtium to grow last year--yeah! I must have been lucky with brassicas also as nothing chewed on them--that cabbage, broccoli and Brussels were all producing and picture perfect. The nasturtium were only in the bed with broccoli and I had let some parsley and cilantro grow from last year. Now, if I could only find a way to vanish the dreaded squash vine borer and Japenese Beetles I'd have it made.

I love the companion planting guide on the garden planner. So helpful and easy to use.

I do plan on trying companion planting. I love the thought of plants being beneficial to other garden plants.

I started using the companion planting this year in my garden planner. This is my second year with the garden planner app and I plant to take advantage of more of the features, including weighing my harvest so I can see how I do on certain plants!

Yes, I plan to do more companion planting this year...thanks for the tool to help me do it even better.🙂

Thank you so much. Love any new info for the garden. I have known of some,but learned of others.

Extremely helpful information Ben, I’m definitely going to do more companion planting! Many thanks 😀🐞🐝🦋

Thank you Ben, it is something I am definitely looking into this year. I'm going to pop in garlic for space fillers all over the garden too.

This is my first year gardening. Or trying. My puppy is making it hard. LOL but I was starting to grow marigold so happy to know they'll be well welcomed by the veggies.

I bought a book on companion planting but much of it has so far been basics of setting up a garden . I learned a lot just listening to you. Thanks for verbal and visual advice.

It's my first season in the allotment and I am thinking to mix vegetables, herbs and flowers together, thank you for the information xxx

Exceptionally helpful! New environment to create gardens in, starting from scratch, this will be my guiding light for garden success!

Love your videos, great wealth of info in each one. Keep them coming.

I've learned so much from using the Garden Companion Planter (in my 4th year!) Love the recent enhancements of showing if plants are helping or helped by another plant or flower. My favorite flowers are borage, marigold, nasturtium and zinnias - they attract a TON of pollinators (although it's dangerous in the morning, when I am trying to harvest veggies and they are enjoying their feast) LOL

Excellent stuff. Am currently planning my veg patch, so will definitely bear this in mind

Love it! I've already got garlic, marigolds and lavender in my small Vege garden, but I'm delighted I can now indulge myself with more flowers!!! 😉

I sure will ! Wow !!!! You made this very clear and the comments too especially that one where the writer added such joy

Brilliant! Companion planting is my favorite way to attract the good guys who beat up the bad guys. So many of the companions are beautiful too!

Thanks for the info! I've been really looking into this lately. I will have to check out that garden planner!

Thanks for the great info as usual!

Your cute fur baby reminds me of mine. When ever my husband and I are out in the backyard in our garden he just wants be by our side constantly. Happy gardeing

Yes! I have a few combos for each bed that I'll be trying this year. I went more with a "tree guild" mindset in my planning. The three sisters is one I have in a few beds, with the addition of some pest deterrents and pollinators attractors. For my smaller pots I picked a buddy or two for each pot. I think it's not only beneficial for the plants, but is also a great way to maximize space. My squash beds take up a lot of room, but if I can plant a bunch of corn throughout, that's extra veg in the same space that doesn’t compete for the same growing area. Looking forward to seeing how well they fare! Best of luck with your garden this year!

Great info, and for a first-time gardener such as myself absolutely crucial! I'm aiming for something akin to a Cottage Garden and already got most of the things planned, but ran into trouble because of pest control, since we got dozens of cats roaming the area and I don't want to hurt them. This is a splendid idea; not only will it keep the pests in check and make the garden more colourful and versatile, but I'm certain, the kitties will appreciate the abundance of flowers, too.^^

oh yes - love your videos i find companion planting very fun i love doing the research finding what goes with what

Thank you! Simple and straight to the point!

I'm only just getting into companion planting - I'm testing it out in my school's vegetable garden, now that I've stepped up to take it over. I've found that many of the pests here are familiar - the ubiquitous cabbage moth must apparently live everywhere that humans have brought cabbage. But some are quite unique to this land, and yet enjoy many of my crops with the same voracity of their well-cited cousins in the west. For instance, I'm not battling tomato horn-worms (yet, fingers crossed - Japanese hornworms I've seen are huge), but there's a bristly-looking fellow my kids tell me is "biri-biri" (electric shock onomatopoeia) if I touch it. It has the head all too reminiscent of the famed suzumebachi, so it already struck a little fear in me. It's haemolymph is the color of actual blood, so they're best not squashed in good company. I've found them gnashing on everything on basically everything in my garden, but I've only just started introducing my companion starters, so I'm hoping to have more luck, from here on out. Anyway, my question is: does your scientific companion planting app take into account the various species of pests from around the world (where similar crops are grown)? If not, would you be interested in more region specific data from citizen scientists, if offered?

Ty much Ben! Just what we needed :)

I will definitely do more companion planting this year! Thank you for this video! ❤🙏

Will definitely do more companion planting this, thank you so very much.

Love these videos! I use my exercise bike in the morning, while watching Bens videos. I’ll be ready for spring gardening.

Thank you Ben for this information. Last year was the first time I tried companion gardening. It worked quite well. Plus it is so refreshing to see your vegetable gardens willed with flowers.

cuccs and dill, tomatoes and basil. nasturtiums and other flowers. sounds good! Thanks a bunch!

Hi Ben I love watching your videos, nasturtiums don't like being transplanted better off sowing direct.

Thank you for a very informative video. Not only does the addition of flowers to the vegetable beds help with fighting disease and pests and attracting beneficial insects, it also makes it a more pleasant experience for the gardener to work among all those flowers and vegetables. Loving all the updates to the Garden Planner. I have been using it for a few years now. One of my must have tools for gardening now got even better!

You're very inspiring. Only tried houseplants but giving our garden a bit of TLC this year and companion planting is a new avenue as well

Thank you for this video! I’m so excited for 2023 garden journey! Every year i learn from my mistakes, and get better with my discernment on what my garden needs😊! I’m definitely gonna look into the garden planner, because it seems like a GREAT tool for beginners and even those who are experienced!

Brilliant video oh I didnt know about the garlic and potatoes this is fantastic. I definitely agree with tomato’s and Bazil. I do this, I think the Bazil also enhances the flavour of the tomato’s yum

Brilliant Ben. I’ve only done a small amount of companion planting in the past to try and stop pests. Will be trying a few more after watching this 👍

I love your videos! Thanks for the info.

Such great information. One thing I have noticed when I planted kale next with garlic hardly no pests..

Great video! I started companion planting a few years ago and it really helped with pests. I learned a lot from you today that I will implement this season. Thanks!

I’m certainly going to do more companion planting this year thanks to your video(s) and I’ll be subscribing to the planter. One companion planting I did last year was hot peppers along with my garlic - it worked brilliantly!

Hi Ben. I sure like your hands on videos. They help me so much. I need to see how things are done and you always come through. Thank you for all you do. Diana in Forrest Lakes, Colorado

By happy accident, I used companion gardening without knowing it until I started watching videos like yours. 😊Thank you! I planted nasturtiums by the arugula and the arugula spread like crazy and did very well. I had quite a big crop and was able to share with friends and family last year. It was so healthy I was able to harvest it until November. I live in upstate New York in the USA and most harvesting ends in October so it was a real treat to be able to continue adding fresh arugula to my salad! I am enjoying your videos and they are so helpful. Keep them coming!

Thank you for the information that was a real help so hopefully I will get a better crop of tomatoes and cucumbers this year I’ve ordered my seeds ready and waiting for sow.

Thank you Ben. As always a treasure of useful tips. We let two of our fennel go to flower last year and wow the amount of life that lived on it was astounding!! Love the insect sounds and rhythm they all add.

Interesting & informative video Grow Veg. Companion planting is essential for organic gardening so I am planning to do it.

Thank you very much for sharing this video 👍

🙏🙏🙏 Ben! I planted Stevia in my garden last year and the bees loved it! And I also planted Marigolds, yet didn't know the benefits until now! Lol I just thought they were pretty! Thanks for all of this information! Be Blessed!

So glad I found this 🤩 thank you!

Love your channel bro keep up the great work this is much needed

Excellent video!.. Thank you...

Thank you for your enthusiasm, its infectious. I have brought flower seed to compliment and assist the vegetable plants.

I love the online Garden planner. I have been using it for several years now. The companion planting and square foot gardening features are both helpful.

I just subscribed to the app, and wanted to say how much I love, love, LOVE it! I've been juggling spreadsheets and Visio diagrams until I thought I would lose my mind. The app does everything I needed and more - to scale, no less. Varieties, zone-appropriate info, companions, all the symbols... too much to list, and the month over month views are icing on the cake. Thank you so much!

Wow I love that garden planner makes life so much easier giving time to sit back and enjoy all of your hard work …thanks so much

I have had mardigolds and basil around my greenhouse tomatoes for last 3 years and must say so fsr it works great! Definitely going to keep doing it.

As a graduate of Iowa State University, I really appreciate all your videos and the Garden Planner Almanac website.

Really helpful channel, I'm just starting my gardening journey and this channel is so helpful. It helps it seems less intimating!!

Thank you for the good information

I will be planting basil with my tomatoes and Borage also, thank you !

Great video Ben! Thank you! That sure is a great looking companion planting programme! It made me laugh though, I love working out where to plant what and who can grow with them! That is as much fun for me as actually getting to see my first seedlings coming up in the spring! Yes of course I companion plant and this year, I'm adding in Square foot gardening too! Growing way more food here in BC. This year it is Jalapeño peppers and Utah Tall Celery. Brightest Blessings

Thank you for sharing 😊

Fantastic video love your enthusiasm

Always lovely to hear from you mate l, Nasturtiums work work well for my tomatoes and yes I've been garlic along side other crop, I've found timing a key feature 👍

The dog is soooooo adorable!

Last year grew few companion plants. But will be planting more seeds that I know will be great companion plants in the garden. Now have green house to start off the seedlings.

I am new to gradening i have just started growing my own food this year and i am going to be adding more flowers round my garden next year as i think this is most not only to get good crops but to help the beneficial bugs and out just as much as they help us and i feel i am picking alot up from watching your channel with some other i watch as well so thank you very much for helping us with tips and hints

This was soo helpful!!

Using the planner and love it.

yes Thanks

I love kale but they are attacked by whiteflies in my garden. This year I planted marigolds all over the kale and will be planting more nasturtiums based on your video. Thank you so much!