Gardening Edible Gardening Vegetable Gardening 10 Best Companion Plants for Broccoli Companion planting broccoli can boost your harvest and keep pests away. By Lauren Landers Lauren Landers Lauren Landers is a freelance writer who focuses on gardening, homesteading, and DIY. Learning from both hands-on experience and a Master Gardener training course, Lauren loves sharing her knowledge about gardening, conscious living, homesteading, backyard food growing, and much more. Learn about BHG's Editorial Process Published on April 6, 2023 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Ed Gohlich Broccoli and other brassica plants are usually the first plants that bugs target in vegetable gardens, which can make pest control a challenge. But by companion planting broccoli, you can grow a healthy and pest-free harvest without pesticides. Of course, companion planting works especially well when combined with other organic pest control measures, such as crop rotation and floating row covers. In this guide, you’ll find some of the best, scientifically-proven companion plants to grow near your broccoli. The list includes vegetables, herbs, and flowers of different sizes so that, no matter the size of your garden, you'll be able to find a companion plant that will work for you. These plants will help repel common garden pests and they may even enhance the growth and flavor of your veggies. 01 of 10 Alliums Marty Baldwin Garlic, onions and other alliums are known for their strong scent, which a number of garden pests find unpleasant. When planted near your broccoli, alliums repel aphids, slugs, and cabbage worms, so you won’t have to worry about holey or damaged produce. Alliums can even keep deer out of your garden when they are planted around the edges of your beds. 02 of 10 Beets Kindra Clineff Broccoli plants require a lot of calcium to grow properly and they shouldn’t be planted near other calcium-loving veggies. Since beets happen to have low calcium needs, they won’t compete with your broccoli for nutrients. Broccoli and beets also both thrive in cool weather and are top plants to grow in spring and fall gardens. This Small Spring Vegetable Garden Plan Packs in 10 Cool-Season Crops 03 of 10 Celery Marty Baldwin Cabbage worms can spell disaster for many brassica plants, including broccoli. But these destructive insects hate the smell of celery. Sowing celery near your broccoli can keep your plants pest-free and, since these two cool weather vegetables have similar growing needs, planting them together can simplify your gardening chores. 04 of 10 Chamomile Dean Schoeppner Chamomile is a dainty plant that’s usually used for flavoring herbal teas and desserts, but it’s also a great companion for broccoli and other brassica plants. Chamomile flowers will attract pollinators and beneficial insects like predatory wasps to your garden. This plant is also known to enhance the flavor and growth of broccoli and other brassicas when it’s sown in your vegetable garden. How and When to Harvest Broccoli at Its Peak 05 of 10 Dill Marty Baldwin When allowed to bloom, dill is one of the best herbs to grow to attract pollinators and beneficial insects to your garden. Lured in by your dill plants, predatory wasps can hunt cabbage loopers and help to protect your broccoli plants. Additionally, dill and broccoli grow best in cool weather and dill can benefit from the shade of taller broccoli plants. 06 of 10 Lettuce Helen Norman Another cool weather vegetable, lettuce will often bolt when temperatures start to rise. But if you plant your lettuce under taller broccoli plants, that added shade can slow down the bolting process and keep your lettuce edible for longer. Lettuce and broccoli have similar watering needs too, so it just makes sense to grow these two plants together. 07 of 10 Potatoes Marty Baldwin Potatoes and broccoli are both plants that need lots of nutrients to grow properly, so they’re not an obvious choice for companion planting. However, if you provide plenty of fertilizer, these plants will grow well together. This is partly due to the fact that broccoli has shallow roots that won't get in the way of your potato harvest. 10 Best Potato Companion Plants to Keep Pests Away 08 of 10 Rhubarb Brie Passano Rhubarb is a large plant so it’s not often used as a companion in vegetable gardens. But if you have the space for it, you may want to grow it near your broccoli patch. Rhubarb and broccoli have similar growing needs and rhubarb appears to repel whiteflies, which can damage broccoli leaves. 09 of 10 Rosemary Rick Taylor Another top broccoli companion plant is rosemary. This herb's strong aroma can keep a number of pests away. When planted near your broccoli, rosemary helps repel cabbage moths and some beetles. You may want to keep your rosemary in pots though, because it prefers drier soil than broccoli. 10 of 10 Spinach Scott Little Like lettuce, spinach will bolt when temperatures rise, but you can prolong the growing season of your spinach by planting it under taller broccoli. Not only will this benefit your spinach, but it’s a smart way to put bare garden soil to use and get more fresh produce out of your garden. What Are the Best Vegetables to Grow to Save Money on Groceries? Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources Better Homes & Gardens is committed to using high-quality, reputable sources—including peer-reviewed studies—to support the facts in our articles. Read about our editorial policies and standards to learn more about how we fact check our content for accuracy. https://hgic.clemson.edu/planting-deer-resistant-fall-bulbs/