Garden Tower® Project Herb Chart
Did you know that basil helps tomatoes and peppers grow in the garden? Or that borage can be used to repel different pests? It’s important to keep these things in mind when planning your garden. To help you out, the Garden Tower Project has assembled a guide that explores various herbs and their roles within a garden.
| Common name | Scientific name | Helps | Helped by | Attracts | Repels | Avoid | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basil | Ocimum basilicum | tomato,[3] peppers, oregano, asparagus, petunias | chamomile, anise | butterflies | asparagus beetle, mosquitoes, thrips and flies | common rue | is said to make tomatoes taste better, chamomile and anise are supposed to increase the essential oils in many herbs like basil |
| Borage | Borago officinalis | Almost everything, especially strawberry, cucurbits (cucumber, gourds), tomatoes and cabbage | Predatory insects, honeybees | many pests | Predict a square meter for its adult size. Borage is the magic bullet of companion plants | ||
| Caraway | Carum carvi | Strawberries | Parasitic wasps, parasitic flies | ||||
| Chamomile | Matricaria recutita | Basil, Wheat, Onion, Cabbage, Cucumber | Hoverflies, wasps | Growing near herbs will increase their oil production. | |||
| Chervil | Anthriscus cerefolium | Radish, lettuce, broccoli | aphids | radish | loves shade, fortunately it grows well with shade-tolerant food plants; will make radishes grown near it taste spicier | ||
| Cilantro / Coriander | Coriandrum sativum | spinach | beans, peas | tachinid fly | aphids, spider mites, white flies and potato beetle | ||
| Chives | Allium schoenoprasum | Apples, carrots, tomatoes, brassica (broccoli, cabbage, mustard, etc.), many others | carrots | cabbage worms, carrot fly, aphids | beans, peas | Same companion traits as all alliums (onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, etc.)said to prevent apple scab after 3 years planting at base of apple trees | |
| Dill | Anethum graveolens | Cabbages, Corn, Lettuce, Onions, Cucumbers | Tiger Swallowtail butterflies/ caterpillars, Hoverflies, Wasps, Tomato Hornworm, honeybees, Ichneumonid Wasps | Aphids, spider mites, squash bugs, cabbage looper | carrots, tomatoes | one of the few plants said to grow with fennel | |
| Fennel | Foeniculum vulgare | Dill | Dill | ladybugs, syrphid fly, tachinid fly | aphids | Almost everything | Fennel is allelopathic to most garden plants, inhibiting growth, causing to bolt, or actually killing many plants |
| Garlic | Allium sativum | Apple trees, Pear trees, Roses, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Celery | Aphids, cabbage looper, ants, rabbits, cabbage maggot, vampires | Beans, cabbages, peas | Deters rabbits, same companion traits as all alliums (onions, chives, shallots, leeks, etc.) | ||
| Hemp | Cannabis sativa L. subsp. sativa | Brassica (cabbage, brussels sprouts, other kales) | Repels many types of beetles which attack cabbages. | ||||
| Hyssop | Hyssopus officinalis | Cabbage, grapes | honeybees, butterflies | Cabbage moth larvae, Cabbage Butterflies | Stimulates growth of grapes. | ||
| Lovage | Levisticum officinale | Almost all plants | beans | Ichneumonid Wasps, ground beetles (good) | rhubarb | Is thought to improve the health of almost all plants, like borage and geraniums, is considered a "magic bullet" of companion planting | |
| Oregano | Origanum vulgare | Tomatoes, peppers, many other plants | basil | aphids | provides ground cover and much-needed humidity for pepper plants if allowed to spread among them | ||
| Parsley | Petroselinum Crispum | Asparagus, corn/maize, tomatoes | Swallowtail Butterflies, wasps, flies | Alliums, lettuce | Sacrificially attracts insects that predate upon tomatoes | ||
| Peppermint | Mentha piperita | Brassica (cabbage, kholrabi, broccoli, and the other kales) | cabbage fly, ants, cabbage looper | Repels cabbage flies, has same general companion properties as other mints | |||
| Rosemary | Rosmarinus officinalis | sage, cabbage, beans, carrots, thyme | bean beetle | basil | Deters cabbage flies, repels many bean parasites | ||
| Sage | Salvia officinalis | rosemary, cabbage, beans, carrots | honeybees, cabbage butterfly | cabbage flies, carrot fly, black flea beetle, cabbage looper, cabbage maggot | Deters cabbage flies, repels many bean parasites | ||
| Southern- wood | Artemisia abrotanum | Fruit trees | Controls cabbage moths and malaria mosquitoes. | ||||
| Spearmint | Mentha spicata | ants, aphids | Controls ants and aphids, has same general companion properties as other mints. | ||||
| Summer Savoury | Satureja hortensis | Green beans, onions, | also delays germination of certain foul herbs | ||||
| Tansy | Tanacetum vulgare | beans, cucurbits (cucumbers, squash, etc.), corn, roses | honeybees | flying insects (Ichneumonid Wasps), Japanese beetles, striped cucumber beetles, squash bugs and ants | Is reputed to generally repel insects (except for nectar-eating types). This herb should not be consumed, as it is quite toxic. | ||
| Tarragon | Artemisia dracunculus | Everything, but especially eggplant | Its scent is disliked by most pests, and this plant is also thought to have Nurse Plant properties, enhancing the growth and flavor of crops grown with it. | ||||
| Thyme | Cabbage and broccoli | Deters white fly |