Steve Yoder
I'm Steve, a 30-something urban gardener fascinated by companion planting research. Growing up surrounded by greenery sparked my passion for gardening early on. I enjoy transforming my small backyard, experimenting with companion planting techniques and eco-friendly practices. Sustainability matters—I advocate for native plants and composting.
Table of Contents
Parsley is a wonderful herb to have in the garden, especially if you’re growing other vegetables. It’s versatile, tasty, and easy to grow. However, some plants don’t make good companions for parsley. In this article, we’ll cover which vegetables will work well with your parsley plants as well as those that should be avoided at all costs. Let’s find out the best parsley companion plants first!
Best Parsley Companion Plants
Asparagus & Parsley
Today, we start our list of the best parsley companion plants with asparagus. Asparagus is a spring-growing perennial vegetable. Asparagus grows well in containers, enjoys chilly soil, and is even beneficial for your backyard garden. One of the greatest plants to grow with asparagus is parsley since it deters pests1 like cabbage worms and aphids from attacking your plants.
If you haven’t checked our article about the best asparagus companion plants yet, just follow the link:
Beets as Parsley Companion Plants
Parsley and beets go well together because the former promotes the growth of the latter. You may utilize both plant sections since beet greens taste nice in salads. Beets and parsley complement one another in that they both need nitrogen to produce their edible bulbs, while parsley is one of the greatest suppliers of nitrogen available. Keep in mind that they might occupy a lot of areas if you intend to grow these two together in your garden bed or container!
For more information about beets companion plants follow the link below:
Corn as Parsley Companion
We continue our list of the best parsley companion plants with corn. Weeds will be shady because of their height. Parsley contains a lot of the rich soil2 and water that corn needs to grow successfully. If you live in a region with poor drainage or soil that is prone to drought, you should think about planting maize along with your parsley.
Corn is a friendly plant, but it is not always easy to choose the right companions! In the article below we have listed the best companions and anything you need to know about it:
Peas and Beans as Parsley Companion Plants
As members of the legume family, which includes plants with nodules on their roots that fix nitrogen in the soil, peas, and beans make excellent companion plants with parsley. This indicates that these three crops can benefit from one another by giving one another nutrients. Enhancing the soil’s quality with peas and beans will become more productive and capable of supporting the growth of other plants.
If you want to cycle your garden to prevent pests from gathering over time, you may also think about growing peas or beans as rotation crops.
Peas and Beans have many other good companion plants too! Check them out:
- Amazing 10 Best Peas Companion Plants (+3 Bad Companions)
- Beans Companion Plants – Which Ones Should be Chosen?
Lettuce & Parsley
The next member of the best asparagus companion plants is lettuce. Planting this cool season crop next to parsley is a wise decision. It will thrive with the help of the parsley if planted in the same bed. You might not even need to pick lettuce until your parsley is ready because lettuce grows swiftly. What a great companionship this is!
Don’t forget to check our article about the best lettuce companion plants:
Celery and Fennel as Parsley Companion Plants
The last two members of the best parsley companion plants are celery and fennel. They promote healthier parsley growth, draw beneficial insects, and ward against pests. These plants’ roots encourage the growth of one another’s seeds. Giving another plant what it needs to thrive more successfully is known as “facilitation.” Celery and fennel are believed to benefit from this association in part because they are both shallow-rooted plants that require a lot of moisture close to the soil’s surface. The water surrounding them remains wet for an extended period since they are growing so close together.
These two plants complement one another effectively since many pests detest their strong aromas. This can stop aphids from ever invading your crops when planted close to particular veggies like carrots or tomatoes!
To sum up, celery and fennel are friendly plants. As with parsley, they make great companionships with other plants too! Here are the articles:
- 11 Best Celery Companion Plants (+2 Bad Companions)
- 7 Great Fennel Companion Plants for Your Garden (+4 not to Combine)
What NOT to Grow with Parsley
Carrots
The first bad member of parsley companion plants is the carrot. Since they come from the same family and will thus attract the same pests and fight for the same nutrients, parsley and carrots are not a good match. Cross-pollination is infamous for occurring in parsley and carrots, which can be problematic if you store seeds. It is preferable to avoid growing carrot and parsley together for these reasons.
On the other hand, carrot makes amazing companion plants with other members in your garden too! You can find the article in the link below:
Onions
The next and last bad parsley companion plants are onions. They cannot coexist. They are antagonistic to one another and do not get along. Although they are not buddies, parsley and onions can become friendly if necessary and if done correctly.
The deep-seated animosity between onions and parsley is a result of their extremely similar gardening requirements. Both want good soil, lots of moisture, and exposure to the sun. The gas sulfoxide, which onions also emit, is so hazardous to many plants, including parsley, that even putting onions close will stunt development!
Besides these negative aspects, onions can make great companions too. Find out the best onion companion plants in the article below:
References
- Akbar, S. (2020). Asparagus officinalis L.(Asparagaceae). In Handbook of 200 Medicinal Plants (pp. 355-361). Springer, Cham.
- Helmy, A., El-Shazly, M., Seleem, A., Abdelmohsen, U., Salem, M. A., Samir, A., … & Singab, A. N. B. (2020). The synergistic effect of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles from a combined extract of parsley, corn silk, and gum arabic: in vivo antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. Materials Research Express, 7(2), 025002.