20 Garlic Companion Plants to Grow in Your Garden Together

by Bethany Hayes

When you take a look at lists of companion plants for most vegetables and flowers, garlic is usually listed, so it’s often called the king of companion planting. The list of garlic companion plants feels endless; you can plant it near most herbs, vegetables, and flowers. Only a few no-no planting combinations exist with garlic. 

Garlic is one of the most versatile plants to grow in your garden.

It’s perfect for beginner gardeners, and once planted, garlic is low maintenance. In addition, garlic is known for its natural antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. When planted in the garden, these properties are active and deter many diseases. 

At the same time, pests cannot stand the scent of garlic. Humans might think garlic smells delicious – I surely do – but the pungent aroma is too much for many pests. So use this to your advantage in your garden everywhere!

Let’s look at some of the best garlic companion plants and how to use them in your garden. 

Garlic is an Excellent Companion Plant Itself 

If there is one ultimate companion plant, it’s garlic. Sometimes, you don’t see the benefits of pairing different plants together, but it becomes apparent quickly why it’s such a good idea when you grow garlic near another plant. 

Why is garlic such an excellent companion plant? Several reasons!

It’s a small plant that takes up little space in your garden, so you can place it in small areas to increase your food production. As long as garlic has full sunlight, it grows well, even if it’s in poor soil. 

The biggest reason garlic rocks as a companion plant is that it’s one of the most pungent plants you can grow in your garden. Strong odors are one of the biggest deterrents for pests. Garlic drives away a range of pests, such as:

• Fungus Gnats
• Spider Mites 
• Cabbage Loopers
• Japanese Beetles
• Aphids
• Ants
• Snails
• Onion Flies

That’s not the only reason to plant garlic along with your other plants. 

If you have issues with rabbits and deer, garlic is also beneficial because they don’t want to eat stinky plants! At the same time, planting garlic builds up the sulfur in your soil naturally, and sulfur helps to kill off the fungus. It acts as a natural fungicide for other plants throughout your garden. 

20 Garlic Companion Plants

Garlic has a LONG list of companion plants, which makes it easy to pick. It means that you can plant it in most places throughout your garden; who doesn’t love that? 

Beets

You might think planting two root crops together is a bad idea, but beets make an excellent garlic companion plant. These crops pull from different soil levels so that they won’t compete for nutrients. They also grow simultaneously, so they help to loosen up the soil near each other.

One of the best reasons to plant garlic and beets is that garlic will protect your beets from fungal diseases. Beets are prone to fungal diseases like fusarium wilt and downy mildew, both deterred by garlic. 

Broccoli

Broccoli belongs to the Brassica family, and it is a great companion plant. When you plant garlic nearby, it helps deter some of the most common broccoli pests, like cabbage loopers, Japanese beetles, and cabbage worms. 

Even though they have the name cabbage in them, these pests infest all plants in the cabbage family, including broccoli. 

Even though they have the name cabbage in them, these pests infest all plants in the cabbage family, including broccoli. 

Cabbage

Planting garlic near your cabbage plants is an excellent idea because garlic helps to repel different cabbage pests like cabbage loopers, diamondback moths, and cabbage worms. Some of these pests are seriously destructive, so deterring them helps stop the destruction of your plants. 

Rabbits and deer also love cabbage. I know this because rabbits ate a lot of my cabbage heads this year, and since garlic deters those little critters, I’m going to give this a try next year. 

Carrots

Carrots and other plants in the carrot family, such as celery, benefit from garlic growing near because they have a symbiotic relationship. 

That means they offer benefits to each other; it’s not a lopsided relationship.

Carrots deter insects that like to eat garlic plants, and garlic repels the notorious carrot fly. They work together to keep each other pest-less. 

Cauliflower

It’s no surprise to see cauliflower on this list when broccoli and cabbage are here as well. Planting garlic nearby keeps some common cauliflower pests away.

For example, aphids love cauliflower, but they don’t love garlic. Cabbage worms cause severe damage to cauliflower heads and leaves, but garlic helps stop infestations. So the adult moths stay as far away from garlic as possible! 

Chamomile

Chamomile is one of my favorite herbs to grow in my garden; we love chamomile tea around here. It helps you sleep at night and calms upset stomachs. 

Planting chamomile near garlic improves the flavor of the garlic bulbs. Make sure you plant chamomile next to your garlic, or the taste won’t change. 

Cucumbers

Another one of the best garlic companion plants is cucumbers because garlic boosts the nutrient levels in cucumbers, helping the plants grow larger and stronger. When you grow these two crops together, it helps boost the calcium, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and manganese levels in the soil. 

That means you’ll end up with more cucumbers if you plant garlic near. The more garlic planted, the better the benefits for your cucumber plants! 

Eggplants

Eggplants belong to the nightshade family, and they’re a great pairing with garlic because they protect your plants as they grow. It’s shown that planting garlic and eggplants together increase the yield of your eggplants, so you’ll have a larger harvest.

Make sure you harvest the garlic before your eggplant plants grow too large, or they’ll end up shading your garlic too much. 

Fruit Trees

It’s easier to say fruit trees than name all of them. Planting garlic at the base of your trees is an excellent idea because garlic has antifungal properties that protect against things like apple scab and leaf curl. At the same time, garlic repels aphids, Japanese beetles, and mites. 

Remember, garlic deters deer; they also love to munch on fruit trees. If you live somewhere like Alaska, garlic has also been known to deter moose! 

Marigolds

Marigolds make the list as companion plants for many different crops. Planting garlic with marigolds helps to repel pests above and below ground. Together, marigolds and garlic repel aphids out of your garden.

Nasturtiums

Another flower that is often listed as a companion plant is nasturtiums. That’s because nasturtiums themselves deter pests, so if you plant them with garlic, it’s hard for many pests to get around them. As a result, you’ll see the benefits throughout your entire garden. 

Peppers

Here’s another option for garlic companion plants – peppers. Peppers love sun and warmth, and they’re prone to fungal diseases, especially verticillium wilt, phytophthora blight, and white mold. Luckily, if you plant garlic nearby, you can deter these fungi easily. 

Best of all, garlic and peppers are two main ingredients to salsa, so why not plant them close together so that you can harvest at the same time and make fresh salsa. 

Potatoes

Peppers and potatoes are in the same family – the nightshade family – and they both enjoy growing near garlic because of fungal issues. Potatoes are prone to late potato blight, along with potato scab, and growing garlic nearby as a companion plant acts as a natural fungicide. 

Roses

Typically, I would never think to plant roses and garlic together; they often are planted in separate gardens. However, if you have pest problems on your rose bushes, garlic is a great way to get them to go away.

Rose pests dislike garlic, so if you plant a circle of garlic bulbs around your rose bushes, you’ll send away some common rose pests like spider mites, ants, and snails. It even deters common fungi that infect your rose bushes. 

Rue

One pest that many garlic growers find frustrating is onion flies. They lay eggs around the base of your garlic plants, causing maggots to infest your bulbs and render them useless. 

Planting rue along the border of your garlic garden is one of the easiest ways to deter onion flies. Rue has a long history of medicinal use, but best of all, it’s a strongly scented plant that deters different pests, especially flies and maggots. 

Spinach

Do you love spinach?

Who doesn’t! Growing spinach near garlic is an excellent idea because it acts as a groundcover, assuming that you buy a spreading variety that prevents weeds from growing near your garlic plants. Another idea is to sow arugula, spinach, and lettuce near your garlic plants. 

Not all spinach will be suitable as a garlic companion plant. You want a variety that spreads six to 12 inches and reaches a maximum height of nine inches. An example is Double Take Hybrid; this spreads perfectly! 

Strawberries

So, this is one of the controversial garlic companion plants. Some gardeners say that growing garlic near your strawberry plants is a bad idea because it will inhibit the growth of your strawberries. However, this isn’t proven like the below-listed plants that can’t grow near garlic. 

Growing garlic and strawberries close is a good idea because garlic deters spider mites, a horrible pest that destroys strawberry harvests. If you’ve struggled with these pests in the past, planting rows of garlic in between rows of strawberries is an easy and natural way to get rid of spider mites. 

Summer Savory

Most of the time, garlic assists the plants that it grows near, but summer savory is one of the plants that help garlic grow. Summer savory is an annual plant that you’ll find in the herb section at your local garden center, but some hardy varieties might grow as perennials. Growing garlic with summer savory helps your garlic grow. 

Tomatoes

With peppers and eggplants on this list, it’s no surprise that the other nightshade family plant – tomatoes – makes the cut as one of the best garlic companion plants. Spider mites are a big issue on tomato plants, and growing garlic nearby keeps them away. 

The problem with using tomatoes and garlic as companion plants is that tomatoes can overshadow your garlic plants. So, make sure you space them far enough that they won’t cast a shadow, or consider planting tomatoes behind on the north side of your garden with the garlic towards the south. 

Yarrow

Yarrow is a flowering herb known for its strong medicinal properties and attracting pollinators to your garden. It grows well with tomatoes, spinach, and other similar family plants, while also encouraging the growth of your garlic plants. 

Plants You Should Keep Away From Garlic

The best part about growing garlic and figuring out companion plants is that there are only a few plants that you cannot grow alongside it. Those are:

• Asparagus
• Beans
• Parsley 
• Peas
• Sage

These plants aren’t good garlic companion plants because garlic inhibits the growth of these plants and competes for the resources they need. So those plants will end up failing because of the garlic. 

Get to Planting!

Garlic benefits many plants, so instead of devoting one garden bed to this crop, consider planting it throughout your garden. You’ll see fewer pests and diseases overall, as long as you keep them away from the five plants that garlic shouldn’t grow near!