Choosing what to plant together for the happiest, healthiest garden is called “companion planting.” Companion planting is the practice of growing plants next to each other for mutual benefit.
This can happen because a companion attracts beneficial or repels harmful insects, or because the natural chemicals found in or produced by a plant improve flavor or growth.
I have scoured the web for lists of what each vegetable likes and dislikes, put it all into a spreadsheet, and here you go! Two simple tools to help you when planning your garden.
If you have Excel, you can use the companion planting tool:
- Download the file here, be sure to SAVE AS, don’t just open.
- The yellow, green, and blue fields are drop down lists.
Example with a single vegetable
- To find a good vegetable to plant next to Peas, click on the yellow field and select Peas.
- The list will show which vegetables are bad, which are good, and which are the best–these are particularly beneficial.
Example with multiple vegetables
- To find a good vegetable to plant between Beans and Onions, click on the green field to select Beans, and the blue field to select Onions.
- The list shows which vegetables are bad, good, better, and best. The vegetables in the Best column are beneficial to both!
For those without Excel, I have put a table in PDF format:
- Download the file here.
- Look in the top row for the vegetable you are interested in.
- The column of vegetables underneath is color coded.
- Red is bad, yellow is good, green is best
Try it out and let me know how it works for you!
Happy gardening!
That would be great!
This was a great resource! It really helped to have this information while we were laying out our school’s garden.
This is so awesome!!! I have read several books on the subject but it was so much easier to look it up on this spreadsheet! Thank you so much for sharing it!!!!
Hi,
On the pdf version of your wonderful planting guide, it would help if you would include the instructions on the actual guide somewhere ( Look at the top for the vegetable, look down the column, red is bad, etc.)
Thanks,
Mack
Wow., this is excellent, makes life so much easier. Thanks a lot for sharing this.
Thank you! I really appreciate not having to do all the research myself. Peas are going to be a large part of the garden and it’s good to know what I can plant next to it.
If/when I update this I will add that change!
We just moved into a house last month that has 7 square-foot gardening plots. I had sfg’d many years ago and loved it! I’m so happy to be back in a place where I can do it again!
Your tips and this companion planting guide will be a huge help for me this year! Plus, my two teenaged boys have decided to take over a plot and have a competition on who grows the most! So, this companion guide will be helpful for them, too!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Thank you for sharing your gift for detail! This is a great resource as we begin our second year of square foot gardening.
Thanks for this resource. This fall will be my first rather full scale vegetable garden – and I am excited to have found your site. THANKS!
Great help … Love the xls spread sheet
Here is nice site on beneficial insects http://www.beneficialinsects101.com/
Regards
Chris
Emily this is just what I was looking for. I was wondering if you had something similar for succession planting and crop rotation. I’m still learning and getting advice from people like you who have experience and are willing to share really helps. Thanks again
Gary
I do a minimal amount of succession planting, but in his book Mel has a schedule for year round gardening.