Parsley is an easy-to-grow herb with fantastic companion planting traits. It attracts beautiful pollinators and beneficial predators, grows from spring through fall, and makes for a versatile ingredient. Here are the best and worst parsley companion plants and why you should add it to your garden.
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- Parsley companion planting basics
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- Parsley pests and beneficial insects
- What grows well with parsley
- The best vegetables to plant with parsley
- The best herbs to plant with parsley
- The best flowers to plant with parsley
- Bad companion plants for parsley
- Can you plant parsley with tomatoes?
- Are spinach and parsley good for companion planting?
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Parsley companion planting basics
Parsley is a member of the Apiaceae family, which also includes carrots, cilantro, dill, fennel, and parsnips, among other umbellifers. Like the other members of its family, parsley is a biennial that develops a taproot in its first year and wide umbels of delicate flowers in its second year. These umbels attract a host of welcome insects to the garden, which makes parsley a fantastic companion plant and pollinator plant in vegetable, herb, and flower gardens.
Generally speaking, parsley does well with plants that create shade in peak summer, share its soil and water requirements, and won't compete for the same nutrients. When in doubt, plant parsley alongside plants that require regular watering, full sun, rich soil, and good drainage.
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Parsley pests and beneficial insects
Parsley can attract harmful insects like the carrot aphid, carrot root fly, spider mites, armyworms, and cutworms. But it can also attract beneficial insects; in both its first and second years, parsley is a host plant for black swallowtail butterflies, who munch away on the leaves as caterpillars but are incredibly beneficial for both pollination and beauty once they pupate. It also attracts a variety of bee species, including masses of the overlooked sweat bee (at least in my garden.)
Perhaps more practically, parsley flowers also attract some species of parasitic wasps and flies like the tachinid fly. This is common to members of the Apiaceae family (also known as the carrot or umbellifer family), and is fantastic component of garden pest management. These parasitic species keep populations of aphids, armyworms, cutworms, codling moths, gypsy moths, cabbage worms, and cabbage loopers, among others, in check.
Even if you don't harvest parsley often for your table, it's well worth its space in any vegetable or flower garden. Between the beauty of parsley's umbellifer flowers, the pollinating butterflies and bees it attracts, and the beneficial insects it invites, it might be one of the all-around best herbs to grow.
What grows well with parsley
Generally, plants that do well alongside parsley are ones that share its growing conditions and can benefit from the insects that it attracts. In the lists below, I've clarified when and why parsley makes a good companion plant for each herb, vegetable, and flower.
As with any companion planting guide, I encourage you to experiment. A crop of lettuces or kale or carrots is unlikely to be ruined by too-close planting with parsley. In fact, if you have a small space to garden in, do take these recommendations with a grain of salt; grow what you like however you like it. These are guidelines to be used or discarded as you see fit.
The best vegetables to plant with parsley
In general, parsley does well planted with heavy feeding fruiting vegetables, root vegetables, and cool weather herbs. Of course, there is some nuance within that. Here are some common garden vegetables that make convenient companion plants for parsley:
1. Brassicas
When it flowers, parsley attracts parasitic wasps and flies that prey on common brassica scourges. (Unfortunately, parsley does not attract the particular wasps that preys on the dreaded cabbage white butterfly.) Plant kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, or brussel sprouts next to flowering parsley and you may see less damage from armyworms and cutworms.
2. Corn
Parsley may not be as popular a companion plant for corn as squash and beans, but it does make a good neighbor. In parsley's second year of growth-- or in its first year, if it bolts-- its flowers will attract the parasitic insects that prey on corn's pests: cutworms, armyworms, and earwigs. For its part, midsummer corn casts much needed shade for parsley plants.
3. Peas and beans
Peas and beans are well known as nitrogen fixers, increasing bioavailable nitrogen in the soil until they set seed. In the spring and early summer, before seeds develop, the rich soil that peas and beans thrive in (and help to create) is ideal for nitrogen-loving herbs like parsley. Of course, they also share sun and watering needs. Parsley will also shade the soil around pea and bean shoots, and flowering parsley may help to reduce any damage from worms and caterpillars that are attracted to peas and beans.
4. Potatoes
In the spring and early summer months, parsley will shield the soil while potato plants get up to speed. As the summer wears on, both plants will benefit from nitrogen-rich soil and regular watering. Parsley is also thought to improve the flavor of potatoes, although this is anecdotal.
Read More: The 15 Best Potato Companion Plants
5. Radishes
Radishes make excellent companion plants for parsley in the spring and fall. Parsley won't interfere with the root space that radishes need, and both plants thrive in the cooler spring and fall months. They also both require frequent watering in the summer, when a dry spell will cause woody radish roots and leathery parsley leaves.
6. Tomatoes
Parsley does well in nitrogen-rich soil that could, for tomatoes, produce fewer fruits and more leaves. However, the same is true for basil, the tomato's tried and true companion. Parsley does well with tomatoes for the same reasons that basil does: they share soil and watering needs, and parsley benefits from the shade cast by tomatoes in mid- to late-summer. Simultaneously, sprawling parsley plants can shade the soil at the base of well kept tomato plants.
Read More: The 11 Best Companion Plants for Tomatoes
The best herbs to plant with parsley
Though most herbs don't make good companions for parsley, there are a few that decidedly do: those that like full sun, rich soil, and regular watering. If you're planning an herb bed with parsley, here are some other herbs to include:
7. Basil
Parsley is one of the best companion plants for basil, as they share identical growing conditions. Interplanting parsley with tomatoes and basil gives all three plants a good start: rich soil, good drainage, full sun (until the tomatoes grow to their full height), frequent watering, and ground cover. Once the basil and tomatoes are pulled up in the late summer, they can be replaced with another companion plant to accompany parsley into the fall.
8. Chives
Chives are another herb that love full sun, rich soil, and regular watering. They also come with the added benefit of masking the parsley (to some extent), resulting in less damage from pests. I always aim to interplant my carrots and parsley with chives or garlic, as planting the families together shields both from insect damage. In fact, chives are also one of the best companion plants for cilantro, another Apiaceae plant.
9. Cilantro
Though cilantro and parsley are easy to confuse in photos, their scent and size make them difficult to confuse in the garden. Planting cilantro with parsley in the spring and fall makes for a near ideal companion planting relationship; the only downside is that, as members of the carrot family, they'll attract the same pests. The solution: water and harvest regularly, allow the parsley to cast shade on the cilantro as the season progresses, and take out the cilantro when it shows signs of bolting.
10. Garlic
Garlic, another allium, does well with parsley for the same reasons that chives do. Garlic goes into the ground in the late fall or early winter (ideally) and is ready for harvest in early- or mid-summer, depending on the variety. Garlic bulbs are susceptible to rot, so they benefit from the extra drainage that parsley enjoys. Water both plants only when the top inch or so of soil has dried. When the garlic leaves start to yellow, reduce watering.
The best flowers to plant with parsley
Most popular companion flowers will do well with parsley, but there are a few common perennials that don't. If you're looking for annual flowers to plant with parsley, here are some of the best options:
- Marigolds (Tagetes)
- Calendula (Calendula officinalis)
- Nasturtium (Tropaeolum)
- Cosmos (Cosmos)
- Zinnias (Zinnia)
Marigolds, calendula (also called pot marigolds), and nasturtium are all shorter flowers that make fantastic companion plants for any summer garden and will shade the soil around the base of tall flat leaf parsley. On the flip side, cosmos and zinnias are popular annual flowers that can grow to well over four feet tall, creating helpful shade for parsley by midsummer.
Flowers not to plant with parsley
Some will claim that parsley planted near roses will improve the flowers' scent. This strikes me as a particularly endearing old wives tale, which may or may not have basis in fact. If you have roses, I would consider their soil to be more important than anything else; roses thrive in amended clay soil, which parsley won't tolerate.
Similarly, prairie flowers and Mediterranean flowers that thrive in clay soil or relatively poor soil wouldn't do well with parsley. This includes:
- Coneflower (Echinacea)
- Blazing star (Liatris)
- Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia)
- Lavender (Lavandula)
Bad companion plants for parsley
- Lettuce: Parsley is thought to cause lettuce to bolt, though this seems anecdotal and I haven't noticed it in my garden. Parsley and other leafy greens all benefit from high nitrogen content and well-draining soil, though lettuces prefer a particularly sandy mix. Given limited space, it could be worth trying them as companion plants. Given ample space, maybe not.
- Carrots: Parsley and carrots are in the same family and share similar pests, making planting them together a bit risky. Infestation by aphids is rare among healthy plants, but if you're lucky enough to attract eastern black swallowtails, separating your parsley and carrots will help avoid complete devastation from the black swallowtail caterpillar.
- Fennel: Fennel is another member of the Apiaceae family, so it and parsley will attract similar pests. Fennel is also allelopathic, meaning it actually inhibits the growth of many other plants.
- Dill: Dill and parsley are not good companion plants, though they share the same sun, soil, and water requirements. This is because they're both members of the carrot family and, like carrots and fennel, will attract the same pests.
- Mint: Companion planting with mint is awful for nearly everything, as its shallow, running roots quickly spread to dominate a planting area.
- Mediterranean herbs: Herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage require fast draining soil, intense sun, and little watering-- conditions that would cause parsley bolt.
Read More: The 14 Best Herbs to Grow at Home
Can you plant parsley with tomatoes?
Parsley isn't a popular companion plant for tomatoes, but they can grow very well together. Tomatoes will cast shade on parsley in the height of summer, while parsley will cast shade on their shared soil. To grow tomatoes with parsley, prepare the soil with a generous amount of rich organic matter and some added drainage. Water the plants thoroughly once the top inch of soil has dried.
Are spinach and parsley good for companion planting?
Spinach and parsley aren't particularly good companion plants, but they can certainly grow together. Parsley is thought to repel spinach pests, though I haven't found or seen any evidence to support this. If you want to plant spinach and parsley together, the benefit would be that spinach can grow as a catch crop between parsley plants through the spring, as the parsley becomes established. Once the spinach comes up in late spring or early summer, the parsley can be interplanted with a summer-growing companion plant.
One thing to be mindful of when companion planting with spinach: the soil. Spinach thrives in very sandy soil, and while parsley needs good drainage, it doesn't want the kind of sharp drainage that spinach likes. Plant both into a generic organic raised bed mix with some added vermiculite, perlite, and/or sand, and they should get on well.