If you want to save money on your grocery bill and enjoy more vibrant green smoothies, scrumptious kale salads, or crunchy kale chips, growing your own organic kale is crazy simple.
Kale is one of the trendiest, most popular superfoods at farmer’s markets and grocery stores for good reason: it’s nutrient-dense, flavorful, and has a versatile texture that lends well to a wide variety of recipes. In the garden, kale grows quickly and can yield massive plants with frilly, curly leaves or crumpled “dinosaur” textures.
But, like all Brassicas (cabbage-family crops), most varieties of kale are prone to a few issues. Aphids, flea beetles, and cabbage worms (from those white butterflies you see flying around the garden) are a few annoying pests that can put a serious dent in your kale harvest.
Thankfully, the age-old wisdom of companion planting offers a simple way to protect your kale from pests while beautifying your garden and enjoying extra yields. Here’s everything you need to know about the best companion plants for kale.
Kale is a superstar vegetable that deserves a spot in every garden. This hardy nutritious green can withstand cold temperatures and keep producing leaves long after other crops have finished. However kale is prone to pest pressure from insects like cabbage loopers, flea beetles, and aphids. The good news is that strategic companion planting can help create a thriving kale garden free of chemical pesticides.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of interplanting and reveal the best plants to grow with kale. We’ll also provide tips to maximize your harvest through smart garden design. Let’s dive in!
Why Companion Planting Matters
Companion planting is the practice of strategically combining mutually beneficial plants together in your garden beds. The right plant partners can help deter pests, attract pollinators, improve flavor, maximize space, and enrich the soil.
Research shows that interplanting kale with certain herbs flowers and vegetables can
- Repel cabbage worms, flea beetles, cabbage loopers, and other kale-loving pests
- Attract beneficial insects like ladybugs that prey on pests
- Provide shade and moisture retention
- Add nutrients like nitrogen to the soil
- Mask the scent of kale to confuse pests
By building a strong plant community, you can avoid pesticides and foster biodiversity. Companion planting is organic gardening at its best!
How to Choose the Best Companion Plants for Kale
The ideal kale companion plants share similar needs and form symbiotic relationships.
Here are some key factors to consider:
Climate preferences: Choose plants that thrive in the same cool conditions as kale. Warm season companions can shade kale once the weather heats up.
Sun requirements: Most companions should match kale’s need for 4-6 hours of sun. Exceptions are taller “nurse plants” that provide shade.
Watering needs: Kale needs consistent moisture. Pick companions with similar thirst.
Growth habits: Choose plants that occupy space differently than kale. For example, pair low-growing lettuces with upright kale.
Pest resistance: Plant companions that deter common kale pests like cabbage looper moths.
Beneficial flowers: Add blooms that attract pollinators and predatory insects to patrol for pests.
Soil enrichment: Legumes add nitrogen. Dynamic accumulators pull nutrients from deep in the soil.
The Best Companion Plants for Kale
Here are some top plant picks to grow with kale:
Herbs
- Basil – Repels pests and attracts pollinators
- Oregano – Deters cabbage worms with its scent
- Dill – Its flowers support beneficial insects
- Cilantro – Smell deters pests, flowers feed good bugs
- Rosemary – Repels slugs and masks kale’s scent from pests
- Thyme – Anti-aphid properties protect kale
Flowers
- Marigolds – Pest deterrent and pollinator magnet
- Calendula – Pretty blooms distract problematic insects
- Nasturtiums – Trap crop that lures pests away from kale
Leafy Greens
- Lettuce – Fast growing and shares kale’s preferences
- Spinach – Adds green bulk and thrives in cool weather
Alliums
- Chives – Anti-pest scent and perennial nature
- Garlic – Potent aroma confuses pests
- Onions – Strong odor drives away cabbage moths
Root Crops
- Carrots – Grow well with kale and don’t compete for space
- Radishes – Fast growing and fit in empty spots
- Beets – Just space enough to prevent too much shade
Fruiting Plants
- Peas – Nitrogen fixer that benefits kale
- Beans – Another nitrogen producing legume
- Tomatoes – Can shade kale in warmer weather
Designing Your Kale Companion Planting Garden
Now let’s look at how to strategically lay out your kale companion plants for maximum effect:
Use companion flowers wisely – Plant pest-deterring flowers like marigolds and calendula around the outer edges of your garden beds. This creates a beneficial bug border around your kale.
Interplant herbs throughout – Scatter herbs like dill and cilantro among all your plants. They will mask scents, enrich soil, and attract pollinators.
Add alliums judiciously – Tuck alliums like garlic and chives in the middle and on borders. They pack a protective punch so a little goes a long way.
Include dynamic accumulators – Plants like comfrey and yarrow pull up nutrients from deep in the soil. Work them in beds with heavy feeders like kale.
Make the most of legumes – Strategically place nitrogen-fixing peas and beans near kale for natural soil enrichment.
Use taller crops as shade – As weather warms, large crops like tomatoes and trellised cucumbers can shade moisture-loving kale.
Plant densely but wisely – Pack companion plants densely but be mindful of each plant’s mature size and habits.
Growing a Healthy Kale Garden with Companions
By thoughtfully combining compatible plant partners, you can create a thriving, low-maintenance, and organic kale garden. Companion planting promotes plant and soil health while keeping pests at bay.
A diverse garden is a resilient garden. Mixing kale with herbs, flowers, roots, and soil enriching plants minimizes the need for chemical interventions. Adopt companion gardening practices, and enjoy the fruits (and veggies) of your symbiotic labor!
Benefits of Companion Planting with Kale
Companion plants are able to reduce the spread of aphids on kale.
Kale is a member of the Brassicaceae family, sometimes called Brassicas or cole crops. Like its cousins cabbage, brussel sprouts, and broccoli, some pesky bugs are notoriously hungry for these vegetables.
Anybody who has dealt with aphid-infested kale knows how unappetizing our favorite supergreen becomes when its leaves are covered in nasty sap-sucking bugs. But nobody wants to spray toxic pesticides or constantly wipe neem oil all over the garden.
Interestingly, companion plants are scientifically-proven to reduce aphid pressure and increase species richness in kale plantings. This happens because certain species either:
- Attract predators that eat aphids.
- Repel aphids with their strong smell.
- Create more diversity (rather than a monoculture).
Depending on the companions you choose, you can reap all of these benefits in a single kale planting. Sometimes a combination of companion plants is even better for creating more ecosystem services and diversifying your harvests.
A Brief Overview of Companion Planting
Сompanion planting helps attract beneficial predators that eat pests, create a garden canopy layer, fix nitrogen, etc.
Companion planting is an ecological growing method for planting multiple species in the same space to aid in each other’s growth. Flowers, herbs, and vegetables can work together to create symbiotic relationships that promote higher yields, less pest pressures, and/or other ecosystem benefits.
Because it adds biodiversity to a growing space, companion planting is a key way to maximize the resilience of your garden while simultaneously getting the most out of a small space.
Different companions have different functions, including:
- Repelling pests with fragrant leaves or floral aromas.
- Attracting beneficial predators (that eat pests).
- Attracting pollinators.
- Utilizing bare ground.
- Creating layers to the garden canopy (to maximize space).
- Fixing nitrogen.
- Making more soil minerals available to crops.
- Out-competing weeds.
- Loosening the soil profile.
But the most popular reason for companion planting is to reduce the need for pesticides or organic sprays. In this sense, companion planting is technically called conservation biocontrol.
Biocontrol means using living organisms (insects, animals, or presets) to prevent or reduce damage from harmful organisms (pests, common weeds, or disease-causing pathogens). For example, releasing ladybugs to reduce aphid damage, or using chickens and ducks to eat slugs.
Conservation biocontrol is specifically using “built-in” biocontrol species rather than purchasing or importanting predators. For example, planting a flower that attracts predatory insects to the garden and creates long-term habitat for those beneficial bugs.
All scientific jargon aside, this is a simple ancient practice. You mimic a wild ecosystem wherein hungry predators like lions keep fast-multiplying herbivores like rabbits in check. The same processes happen on a micro-scale with flies, wasps, and beetles that keep aphids, flies, fleas, and slugs under control.
Essentially, by companion planting, you are transforming your garden into a self-sustaining ecosystem that doesn’t depend so much on you for pest control.
Our Favorite Kale Varieties – What We’re Growing this Fall
FAQ
What should you not plant next to kale?
Avoid planting kale with other brassicas (like broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and Swiss chard), as they can fall prey to the same pests and diseases.
What goes well with kale in the garden?
Here are some of the combos that I read about and am going to try: Kale companions are beets, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, dill, marigolds, onions, nasturtiums and spinach. Keep kale away from grapes, beans, strawberries, tomatoes and rue.
What compliments kale?
- arugula/rocket.
- beets/beetroot.
- bell peppers.
- Brussels sprouts.
- butternut squash (Try this yummy pairing in our Butternut Squash and Kale Curry)
- cabbage.
- carrot.
- cauliflower.
Can kale and peppers be planted together?
No, it’s generally not recommended to plant kale and peppers together. They are considered poor companion plants due to their different needs and potential for competition.