What should I plant next to lettuce?

QUESTION: I’m overwhelmed planning my garden. I know I want to grow lettuce plants. What should I plant next to lettuce? -Tom R

ANSWER: Companion planting can help prevent diseases, repel garden pests, and even encourage your plants to grow healthier and stronger than they would alone. Here’s a list of the plants that are proven to work well planted close to lettuce.

• Arugula

• Asparagus: Asparagus provides lettuce with some much-needed shade in hot weather.

• Basil: Improves the flavor of lettuce growing nearby while also repelling mosquitoes.

• Beans: Pole beans provide lettuce with some much-needed shade in hot weather, and all beans add nitrogen to the soil, which lettuce needs to thrive.

• Beets: Beets supply the soil with minerals lettuce needs to thrive.

• Borage: Repels tomato hornworms and cabbage worms; attracts pollinators such as  bees and tiny wasps.

• Brussels sprouts: Tuck a fast-growing breed of lettuce between your Brussels sprout plants for a convenient, space-saving partnership.

• Calendula: While most varieties of marigold repel insects, calendula (commonly referred to as pot marigold, common marigold, ruddles, or Scotch marigold) actually does the opposite. It attracts the slugs that can wreak havoc in your garden. So why would you want to attract a garden pest? If the slugs are munching on the calendula, they aren’t eating your lettuce. Position a trap plant (also called a sacrificial plant) a small distance from your lettuce to keep the slugs clear of the salad greens.

• Carrots: Carrots attract beneficial insects that prey on garden pests. Lettuce planted between rows of carrots helps to choke out weeds.

• Catnip: Catnip repels slugs and beetles from lettuce.

• Cauliflower

• Chervil: Boosts lettuce’s growth and flavor while repelling aphids and slugs.

• Chives: Repel aphids and Japanese beetles from lettuce.

• Cilantro/Coriander: You can sow lettuce and cilantro seeds at the same time.

• Corn: Corn provides lettuce with some much-needed shade in hot weather.

• Cucumbers

• Dill: Attracts beneficial insects that prey on garden pests.

• Eggplant

• Hyssop : Hyssop repels slugs and beetles from lettuce.

• Kale

• Kohlrabi: Kohlrabi provides lettuce with some much-needed shade in hot weather, and lettuce protects the kohlrabi by repelling earth flies.

• Lavender: Boosts the growth of lettuce.

• Leeks: Repel carrot flies.

• Marigold: Marigold flowers function as an all-natural insect repellent in the garden because pests can’t handle their scent. They’re especially effective at fighting off aphids and greenflies, and the thiophenes marigolds produce work to keep nematodes out of your garden soil. Marigolds also attract hoverflies, a beneficial predatory insect that eats aphids.

• Marjoram: Boosts vegetable growth.

• Mint: Repels cabbage moth and ants.

• Melons: Planting lettuce in between your melon hills is a convenient setup.

• Nasturtium: Nasturtiums attract pollinators as well as caterpillars, aphids, and whiteflies. Use nasturtiums as trap plants, or sacrificial plants. Position the nasturtiums a small distance away from your lettuce plants to lure the insects nasturtiums attract to the flowers instead of the lettuce. The insects will lay their eggs on the nasturtium, so it’s best to pull up and discard the nasturtium plant before the eggs have a chance to hatch.

• Okra: Okra plants provide lettuce with some much-needed shade in hot weather.

• Peas: Peas add nitrogen to the soil, which lettuce needs to thrive.

• Peppers

• Potatoes

• Radishes: Radishes are said to have a less woody texture when planted near lettuce. They also function as a trap crop for flea beetles and cucumber beetles.

• Sage: Sage repels slugs and beetles from lettuce.

• Spinach

• Strawberries: Use your lettuce plants to create a border around your strawberries.

• Sunflowers: Sunflowers provide lettuce with some much-needed shade in hot weather as well as attracting pollinators.

• Swiss chard

• Tansy: Repels cutworm, which can plague lettuce.

• Tomatoes: Tomatoes provide lettuce with some much-needed shade in hot weather.

• Winter squash: Planting lettuce in between your squash hills is a convenient setup.

• Zucchini