Celery Companion Gardening Guide: 6 Celery Companion Plants

Companion planting is a time-tested gardening method that enriches and protects vulnerable crops. Farmers and gardeners plant specific crops near each other in order to deter pests, attract beneficial insects, and stimulate growth.

Companion plants will either help a specific crop grow or will grow better beside a specific crop, and can do many support jobs in the garden:

• Repel insect pests. Cabbage worms, cucumber beetles, Mexican bean beetles, carrot flies, cabbage moths—all kinds of pests can plague vegetable gardens. Many companion plants (like marigold flowers, catnip, and rue) repel specific pests and should be planted near certain crops to keep them pest-free.
• Attract beneficial insects. Pollinators like bees and ladybugs can use a little encouragement to visit vegetable gardens and pollinate the crops. Gardeners often plant attractive plants like borage flowers to encourage pollinators to visit.
• Improve soil nutrients. When crops grow, they take up valuable nutrients from the soil—leaving the gardener to do a lot of work at the end of the season to renew the soil’s nutrients. However, there are many companion plants (like bush beans and pole beans) that add nutrients like nitrogen back into the soil, helping keep other plants healthy and well-fed.
• Encourage faster growth or better taste. Many companion plants (like marjoram, chamomile, and summer savory) release specific chemicals that encourage faster growth or better taste in the plants around them, leading to quicker and better harvests for home gardeners.
• Provide ground cover. Plants that spread low across the ground (like oregano) serve as a blanket over the soil, protecting it from the sun and keeping it cooler for plants that need it.
• Provide necessary shade. Plants that grow tall and leafy (like zucchini and asparagus) can provide welcome shade for sun-sensitive plants beneath them.
• Serve as markers. When growing slow-growing plants, it can be difficult to tell where the rows will be while you’re waiting for the seeds to sprout. Gardeners often use fast-growing plants (like radishes) interspersed with the slow growers in their rows to delineate where the slow growers will be.

Celery has many companion plants that can help repel pests, protect the crop from soil-borne fungal diseases, and attract beneficial pollinators.

1. 1. Aromatic herbs like mint, sage, dill, oregano, tansy, hyssop, and rosemary perform double-duty as both attractors of crucial pollinators and natural repellents of harmful pests—their scents can also be unappealing to larger animals like rabbits or deer that may snack on your crops.
2. 2. Alliums like garlic, leeks, shallots, and onions enhance the sweetness of a celery crop, and their anti-fungal properties also work as a natural insect repellent within the soil.
3. 3. Flowers like geraniums and nasturtiums use their peppery, astringent scent to help repel multiple pests like worms, cabbage loopers, and flea beetles that can harm celery The flowers can also attract pests like aphids away from more valuable crops.
4. 4. Chamomile is known as a flavor-enhancing companion plant, but be mindful when dispersing it near the rows of celery: it spreads quickly. Only aim for one plant every 150 feet to prevent unintended spreading.
5. 5. Brassicas. Celery is a powerful deterrent against the white cabbage moth, which attacks brassica crops like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, radishes, kohlrabi, and turnips by chewing through the leaves of cole crops.
6. 6. Bush beans. Celery can also protect bush beans and cucumber plants from whiteflies. The scent of celery stalks is a natural repellent for these pests.

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