The Best Lavender Companion Plants For Your Garden

Types of Lavender to Consider When Companion Planting

When planning companion planting with lavender, it’s essential to consider the specific characteristics and growth habits of different lavender varieties. While all types of lavender generally thrive in similar growing conditions, certain varieties may offer unique benefits or aesthetic qualities that complement specific companion plants. Here are some common types of lavender and how they can be incorporated into companion planting schemes:

English Lavender

• Known for its compact growth habit and sweet fragrance.
• Ideal for companion planting with herbs like thyme, oregano, and rosemary due to their similar cultural requirements and complementary aromatic qualities.
• English lavender also pairs well with flowering companions such as yarrow and black-eyed Susans, creating a visually appealing and pollinator-friendly garden landscape.

French Lavender

• Characterized by its serrated foliage and distinctive flower spikes.
• French lavender’s ornamental appeal makes it a great companion for other decorative plants like ornamental grasses and flowering bushes, adding texture and visual interest to garden borders and mixed plantings.
• Its fragrance and flower color make it an attractive addition to herb gardens, where it can be planted alongside other aromatic herbs like sage and mint.

Spanish Lavender

• Spanish lavender’s drought tolerance and heat resistance make it well-suited for companion planting in sunny, dry areas of the garden.
• It pairs effectively with drought-tolerant plants like sedum and ornamental grasses, creating a low-maintenance and water-wise garden design.

Lavandin

• Lavandin’s vigorous growth makes it suitable for mass plantings and landscape borders, where it can serve as a backdrop for shorter companion plants like marigolds, catnip, and lamb’s ear.
• Its long-lasting blooms and aromatic foliage attract pollinators, making it a valuable addition to wildlife-friendly gardens and pollinator habitats.

By selecting lavender varieties that complement companion plants’ growth habits and aesthetic preferences, gardeners can create harmonious and functional garden landscapes that support biodiversity and enhance overall garden health.

Best Lavender Companion Plants

The companion plants that grow best with lavender are those heat-loving plants that enjoy full sun, light watering conditions, and generally poor soil. Growing lavender isn’t difficult when you understand what the plant needs and doesn’t like.

We have a few plants on this list that, although they have different growing conditions, can be accommodated to grow alongside lavender and benefit from its pest-repelling properties.

Brassicas

Brassicas, such as cabbage, kale, and broccoli, make excellent companions for lavender primarily due to their biofumigation properties. These plants release natural compounds into the soil that act as biofumigants, suppressing soil-borne pests and diseases that may harm lavender plants.

Brassicas also have deep root systems that can extract nutrients from the soil. These nutrients are then made more easily available to nearby lavender plants, which helps promote their growth. Moreover, brassicas are seasonal crops that serve as temporary ground cover and provide shade to young lavender plants as they establish themselves in the garden. This feature makes them ideal companions for lavender plants.

Shrub Roses

Shrub roses and lavender complement each other in the garden. They both have a long blooming period, attracting beneficial insects and emitting fragrant scents. Shrub roses come in different sizes and colors, providing a lovely backdrop for lavender.

Some shrub rose varieties are disease-resistant, which benefits nearby plants. Overall, combining shrub roses and lavender creates a beautiful and harmonious garden landscape.

• Learn More: See our full article on how to grow healthy drift roses in your garden.

Echinacea

Echinacea, or Purple Coneflower, is an ideal companion plant for lavender. With its stunning purple blooms, Echinacea adds visual interest, attracts pollinators, and promotes the overall health of lavender plants. Both plants thrive under similar growing conditions, including well-drained soil and ample sunlight, making them great companions in the garden. It’s a wonderful flower that is incredibly easy to grow from seed!

Echinacea’s deep taproot helps improve soil structure and stability, providing resilience during drought or stress. Incorporating Echinacea into the garden alongside lavender creates a beautiful landscape that attracts pollinators and enhances the health and vitality of both plants.

Alliums (Garlic, Chives, Onion)

Alliums such as garlic, chives, and onions are excellent companions for lavender due to their natural pest-deterrent properties. Emitting strong odors, alliums help repel many pests, protecting lavender from insect damage without chemical pesticides.

Additionally, their deep root systems, particularly in garlic and onions, aid in breaking up compacted soil, improving drainage, and adding organic matter, which benefits the growth of nearby lavender plants. Moreover, alliums’ cultural requirements and growth habits align well with lavender, ensuring they coexist harmoniously in the garden without competing for resources.

Yarrow

Yarrow is a beneficial companion for lavender, offering several advantages to the garden ecosystem. One of its primary benefits is its ability to attract beneficial insects such as ladybugs and hoverflies, which are natural predators of common pests that may harm lavender. By drawing these beneficial insects to the garden, yarrow contributes to natural pest control, reducing the need for chemical interventions and safeguarding lavender from potential damage.

Yarrow is also a great companion plant for lavender due to its deep root system. It helps to improve soil quality by aerating it and enhancing drainage. Yarrow is also resilient and can thrive in various soil conditions, making it an ideal low-maintenance companion that complements lavender’s growth requirements without competing for resources.

• Learn More: See our complete guide on growing and caring for yarrow plants.

Thyme, Oregano, Sage, and Rosemary

These aromatic herbs serve as excellent companions for lavender, offering multiple benefits to the garden ecosystem. Their strong fragrances create a sensory delight and act as natural pest repellents, helping deter pests like aphids, mosquitoes, and moths that may harm lavender plants.

Additionally, these herbs attract beneficial insects such as bees and predatory wasps, contributing to pollination and pest control in the garden, further safeguarding lavender from potential damage.

With similar cultural requirements and growth habits, including well-drained soil and ample sunlight, these aromatic herbs coexist harmoniously with lavender. Both plants enhance each other’s growth and vitality without competing for resources.

Learn More: Growing herbs is easier than you think. We have a complete guide on how to grow many popular herbs from seed to harvest:

• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Sage
• Oregano
• Lavender

Black-Eyed Susan

With their cheerful yellow blooms and resilience, Black-eyed Susans make delightful companions for lavender in the garden. These native wildflowers attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies, enhancing the overall biodiversity of the garden while promoting cross-pollination of lavender flowers. Their vibrant colors contrast visually with the soft lavender hues, adding interest and charm to the landscape.

Black-eyed Susans are low-maintenance plants that thrive in conditions similar to lavender, including full sun and well-drained soil. As perennial plants, they provide long-lasting beauty and support to lavender, offering a burst of color and vitality throughout the growing season.

Learn More: See our complete guide on how to grow black-eyed Susans flowers from seed to bloom.

Verbena

Verbena is an excellent companion for lavender due to its ability to attract pollinators such as butterflies and bees, which enhance lavender flower production through cross-pollination.

Additionally, the vibrant blooms of verbena create a colorful contrast with the muted tones of lavender, adding aesthetic appeal to the garden. With its low-growing habit, verbena occupies space without competing for sunlight or resources, making it a compatible companion plant for lavender.

Marigolds

Marigold companion plants help deter pests like aphids and nematodes, protecting them from insect damage without competing for resources. Moreover, marigolds attract beneficial insects such as ladybugs and hoverflies, which prey on harmful pests that may target lavender.

Marigold enhances pest control and improve soil health by releasing natural compounds that suppress harmful soil nematodes, benefiting nearby plants like lavender.

Catnip

Catnip is a natural pest control companion for lavender, repelling pests like aphids, flea beetles, and ants, thus offering protection from insect damage. Furthermore, catnip attracts beneficial insects such as lacewings and parasitic wasps, which prey on pests harmful to lavender.

The complementary growth habits and requirements of catnip and lavender make them suitable companions in the garden, with catnip providing functional benefits while aesthetically enhancing the landscape.

Lamb’s Ear

Lamb’s Ear’s soft, fuzzy leaves make it an ideal companion for lavender, adding texture contrast and visual interest to the garden. These plants form dense mats as a ground cover that helps suppress weed growth around lavender plants, reducing competition for resources.

Additionally, Lamb’s Ear produces small, inconspicuous flowers that attract pollinators like bees and butterflies, benefiting nearby lavender plants through increased pollination. Its compatibility with lavender regarding growth habits and functional benefits makes Lamb’s Ear a valuable addition to the garden.

Harmful Lavender Companion Plants

Garden plants that make poor lavender companions require shade, cool conditions, and fertile soil. Here, we have listed four plants that seem like they would be good companions but are too incompatible with the growing conditions that lavender requires.

Lavender planted in the shade with high moisture and good soil will die out before the growing season.

Camellias

Camellias and lavender require too many different environmental requirements. Soil, water, and even sunlight are too different to accommodate both plants. As a companion plant, camellias are better suited to grow alongside hostas, rhododendrons, or azaleas.

Mint

Mint plants are also incompatible with lavender as companion plants.

Plants like mint require fertile soil with lots of moisture, which is an environment that will stunt or destroy your lavender—plant mint with other plants that enjoy similar growing environments, like cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower.

All types of mint are highly invasive, so if you consider adding it to any area in your garden, add barriers to help keep the plant from spreading. You can add pots of mint to your garden beds instead of planting seeds.

Hostas

Hostas and lavender are other examples of incompatible plants due to growing condition requirements. For example, where lavender thrives in the hot sun, hostas require cool, dappled shade.

• Learn More: Did you know you can grow hostas in containers? You can; we have the complete step-by-step instructions for growing hostas in pots.

Impatiens

Impatiens is another shade-loving flower that requires good moisture and cool conditions to thrive and will not grow well with lavender.

Although the combination sounds lovely, the growing requirements are too varied to support both plants.

Expert Tips

1. Strategic Placement: Consider the growth habits and requirements of lavender and its companion plants when planning your garden layout. Place taller companion plants, such as shrub roses or tall herbs like rosemary and sage, behind lavender to create a visually appealing backdrop. Do ensure that all plants receive adequate sunlight.
2. Layering and Texture: Experiment with layering different companion plants to add depth and texture to your garden beds. Mix low-growing ground covers like thyme or creeping rosemary with taller companions like sage or yarrow.
3. Succession Planting: Plan for succession planting to ensure continuous blooms and interest throughout the growing season. Integrate annual companion plants such as marigolds or black-eyed Susans with perennial lavender to fill in gaps and provide color while lavender is not in bloom.
4. Harvesting and Pruning: Regularly harvest lavender and its companion herbs for culinary or aromatic purposes to encourage bushy growth and prolong flowering. Prune companion plants like rosemary, sage, and thyme to maintain their shape and prevent overcrowding, ensuring optimal airflow and sunlight penetration for all plants.
5. Mulching and Soil Health: Apply a layer of organic mulch around lavender and its companion plants to conserve moisture, suppress weeds, and improve soil health. Use organic materials such as shredded leaves, straw, or compost to provide nutrients and encourage beneficial soil organisms, promoting overall garden vitality.
6. Companion Plant Diversity: Experiment with a diverse range of companion plants to maximize their benefits to lavender and the garden ecosystem. Mix herbs, flowers, and vegetables with varying colors, textures, and fragrances to create a balanced and visually appealing garden landscape.

FAQ

Final Remarks

When planting a garden, it’s beneficial to use companion planting with lavender and other plants. This helps create a diverse and healthy ecosystem for pollination, pest control, and soil health. To do this, carefully choose and nurture various plants that work well together. Be observant and adapt to the specific needs of your garden by experimenting with different combinations of plants.

We would love for you to explore, share, and connect with us and other fellow gardening enthusiasts. Your insights and experiences are invaluable, and we’re always eager to hear your thoughts, questions, and ideas. Your unique perspective enriches our community and inspires us to continue growing together. So, don’t hesitate to join the conversation – your voice matters!

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 4, 2022. It was updated on February 29, 2024 to remove unrelated information and add expert tips, FAQs and a table of contents.