Companion Plants are a great first defense against pesky little bugs.
Why not use beneficial plants to beautify and keep away the bugs and pest? Some of these are even edible.
Here are a few plants to add to your flowers beds and vegetable gardens.
| PLANT | Insects and Pest Deterred | Plant Near |
Asters |
Most insects | Sunflowers
Around the garden too Perennial |
Basil |
Flies and Mosquitoes
Carrot fly, asparagus beetle, white flies |
Tomatoes
Avoid planting near Rue |
Catnip |
Mosquitoes, ants, cockroaches
Flea beetles, spittlebugs, squash bugs, potato beetle, cabbage looper, Japanese beetles, weevils May attract cats, but they may help keep the rabbits out. |
All vegetables
Perennial, spreads underground, best planted in pots or contained beds. |
Celery |
White cabbage butterfly | Leek, tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, bush beans |
Chrysanthemum |
roaches, ants, ticks, lice, fleas, Japanese beetles, root-knot nematodes | Tomatoes
Avoid planting near lettuce |
Eggplant |
Colorado potato beetle | Green beans, lettuce |
Garlic |
Japanese beetle, aphids, other insects and blight | Tomato, eggplant, cabbage
Avoid planting near peas beans, and other legumes |
Geranium scented – Citronella |
Mosquitoes | Annual in warm climates, Perennial in cold climates. |
Horsemint – (Bee balm) |
Mosquitoes
Attracts: Butterflies, hummingbirds, bees |
Perennial, spreads underground, best planted in pots or contained beds. |
Horseradish |
Potato bug | Potato
|
Lavender |
Mosquitoes, flies, fleas, moths | Perennial, Plant a long decks and porches or as a boarder to your vegetable garden. |
Lemongrass |
Mosquitoes, flies, ticks, ants, gnats | Perennial in zones 10 and 11. Annual in cold climates. |
Marigold |
Mosquitoes and
Nearly all insects including Mexican bean beetles and nematodes |
Roses
Potato, Tomato, Pepper, Eggplant Annual |
Mint |
Ants, cabbage moth | Cabbage, tomato
Perennial, spreads underground, best planted in pots or contained beds. |
Nasturtium |
Aphids, squash bugs, striped pumpkin beetles, white flies | Beans, cabbage, cucumber
Annual in cold climates |
Onion (family) |
Most pests, Colorado potato beetle, carrot rust flies | Most vegetables except peas, beans, sage |
Petunia |
Bean pests, Mexican bean beetles, potato bugs, squash bugs | Beans, squash, potato
Annual |
Peppermint |
White cabbage butterfly | Beans, carrot, cucumber, kohlrabi, parsnip, onion, squash
Perennial, spreads underground, best planted in pots or contained beds. |
Rosemary |
Mosquitoes, slugs, snails, cockroaches
Cabbage looper, carrot fly, Mexican bean beetle |
Beans, cabbage, carrot
Annual in cold climates, unless grown in pots so they can winter indoors. |
Sage |
Cabbage moth, carrot fly | Plant with perennial vegetables.
Avoid planting with cucumbers Perennial in zones 5-8. |
Spearmint |
Fleas, moths, ants, beetles, aphids, squash bugs, cabbage looper | Perennial, spreads underground, best planted in pots or contained beds. |
Tansy |
Mosquitoes, moths, flies, mice, ants, cockroaches
Japanese beetles, striped cucumber beetles, squash bugs, cutworms |
Door ways
Squash, potato Avoid planting near collard Perennial, spreads underground, best planted in pots or contained beds. |
Thyme |
Cabbage worm | Eggplant, cabbage, potato, tomato, almost all vegetables and herbs
Perennial |
Tomato |
Asparagus beetle | Asparagus, dill |
