Who knew your garden could turn back into high school cliques? Did you know that where you plant each vegetable, herb, fruit, or flower in your garden counts? I'm not talking about the amount of sun, soil content, or space you must plant. While yes, all of those things are important, what plants you have side by side can also affect your plant's seasonal yield.  If plants aren't friends, they won't produce.  Some plants require more nutrients than others, some plants need more space, some require different PH balances, and some require more light or shade all these factors play into what in the gardening world is called Companion Gardening.

It's funny that as I have researched this for my own gardens, I came to find that plants that we often cook together like to go together, for example, Basil and Tomatoes (Caprese Salad anyone?!?!?). Also, plants that look alike tend to want to be together like Spinach and Lettuce.

Below are the different veggie groupings to ensure your garden will be happy and all the friend groups coexist. I have broken this down into ❤️=love, ⚔️ =protect, and ❌= absolutely not. 

Love means that these plants help provide nutrients for the others making their yields bigger.

Protect means that this plant protects the other plants listed from things like disease or pests.

Absolutely Not mean that this plant can't share a close space with the plants listed.

❤️ Basil, Cucumbers and Squash

⚔️ Carrots

❌ Peas, corn, potatoes

❤️  Cucumber, Eggplant, Strawberries

⚔️ Corn

❌ Garlic, onion

❤️ Spinach, Carrots, Onion

⚔️ Radishes, Strawberries

❌ Celery, Parsley

❤️ Bean, Cucumber, Melons

⚔️ Peas, Potatoes

❌ Tomatoes, Broccoli

⚔️ Lettuce

Obviously this is not a full or extensive list but the internet is a great resource! If you have a plant that I did not include, I would suggest looking at the Farmer's Almanac Companion Planting Guide!

Happy Planting!