Give your bean plants a boost and fight pests by using thoughtful plant pairings.
Pairing beans with companion plants enhances plant health and can boost yields through pest reduction and weed management.
Bean plants themselves enhance soil nutrition, benefiting its partners in return.
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The bean companion plantings featured here are based on scientific research.
Companion plantsprovide a range of services to their partners.
Many companion plants are used to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects to the garden.
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Also consider adding flowering resources to attract beneficial insects to reduce pest pressure.
Some plants do not perform well with beans, including onions, garlic, gladiolus, and fennel.
Keep these in isolated areas of the garden.
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Finally, remember to harvest beans regularly to keep plants productive.
This trio combines corn, pole beans, and squash or pumpkins.
Corn
In the traditional Three Sisters Garden, field corn was used as the central crop.
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Home gardeners can substitute sweet corn, although it doesnt grow as tall as field corn.
Look for taller varieties and avoid dwarfs.
This ensures the corn plants are well established when the beans begin to climb.
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Corn is a heavy feeder and will benefit from nitrogen fixed in the soil by bean plants.
Squash
The genusCucurbitaincludes summer and winter squash, pumpkins, zucchini, and ornamental gourds.
Gardeners like to experiment with different squash relatives in this combination, including melons.
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These include pollinators as well as predators and parasitoids that feed on garden pests.
Parasitoids are specialized types of predatory insects that include non-stinging wasps, flies, and other insects.
These insects all feed onaphids, a common pest of beans.
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Planting dill among edible plants has been shown to reduce aphid damage in a wide range of crops.
The numerous small white flowers attract syrphid flies (a.k.a.
hover or flower flies), ladybeetles, and parasitic wasps, all of which prey upon aphids.
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Sweet alyssum flowers spring through fall, attracting beneficial insects all season long.
Plants benefit from afternoon shade in warm Southern climates.
Plant as a groundcover beneath beans and other plants that will provide the necessary shade.
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The aroma of other plants repels insect and disease pests.
Interplanting these crops among beans can help reduce pest pressure.
Rosemary
Mexican bean beetles treat bean plants like an all you’re able to eat buffet.
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The aromatic compounds in rosemary are known to deter Mexican bean beetles and other garden pests.
It is a great plant to mingle among susceptible crops.
Summer Savory
Summer savory is a culinary herb with many uses, including pest management.
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Small white to pink flowers are produced in showy clusters that attract honeybees and other pollinators to the garden.
As a companion plant, summer savory is used to repel bean beetles.
Planting summer savory alongside beans is thought to improve the flavor of beans.
Interestingly, these tow plants also pair well in cooking.
The residues can be left on the soil surface to serve as mulch.
In addition to aiding in disease management, winter wheat and rye are great soil builders.
This reduces your fertilizer needs and supports plant growth.
They are commonly paired with heavy feeders like corn and brassicas as a means of replenishing soils.
Potato
Studies have shown that interplanting potato plants with beans increased potato tuber size.
Plant out the seed potatoes a few weeks prior to sowing bean seeds.
Note that these crops are grown simultaneously.
The affect is not delayed until after bean plants are removed as in other pairings.
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