--- title: Printable Companion Planting Chart for Your Garden Shed description: "A printable companion planting chart worth pinning up: the pairings with real evidence, the antagonisms that hold up, plus spacing and crop families." image: https://growperma.com/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0444-hero-chart-on-shed-wall-20260813-173648.webp --- [Skip to content](https://growperma.com/blog/printable-companion-planting-chart-for-your-garden-shed#main-content) [![GrowPerma Logo](https://growperma.com/hs-fs/hubfs/icon-512.png?width=40&height=40&name=icon-512.png)](https://growperma.com/) - [Blog](https://growperma.com/blog) - [About](https://growperma.com/about) [Join the Weekly Dig](https://growperma.com/newsletter) - [Blog](https://growperma.com/blog) - [About](https://growperma.com/about) [Join the Weekly Dig](https://growperma.com/newsletter) ![Printed companion planting chart pinned to a weathered wooden garden shed wall beside hanging hand tools and terracotta pots](https://growperma.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0444-hero-chart-on-shed-wall-20260813-173648.webp?width=1200&height=520&name=gp-0444-hero-chart-on-shed-wall-20260813-173648.webp) In This Article Table of Contents ![Peter Vogel](https://growperma.com/hubfs/Peter%20Vogel%20Portait.png) Peter Vogel Peter Vogel is the founder of GrowPerma, bringing together evidence-based gardening advice with permaculture principles. When he's not writing about companion ... [Companion Planting](https://growperma.com/blog/tag/companion-planting) August 13, 2026 # Printable Companion Planting Chart for Your Garden Shed Most companion planting charts pinned up in sheds are copies of copies. Somebody scanned a page from a 1970s paperback, somebody else redrew it, and forty years later the same unverified pairings are still circulating as fact. A chart on your shed wall is genuinely useful, but only if what is printed on it survives contact with evidence. Here is what belongs on one, what should be cut, and how to build a version you can trust while standing in the garden with muddy hands. ## What Should Actually Be on a Companion Planting Chart? **Four things, in descending order of usefulness:** plant spacing, crop family groupings for rotation, the handful of pairings with real evidence, and the antagonisms that have a documented mechanism. Notice that the pairwise "friends and enemies" grid, which is what most charts consist of almost entirely, comes third. 4 Things Worth Printing Spacing, families, pairings, conflicts 5 Crop Families Cover most home vegetables 3 yrs Rotation Interval Minimum between same family $2 Weatherproofing Cost Sheet protector and a pin What you'll get out of this guide: - The pairings extension services actually stand behind - Which "never plant together" rules have a real mechanism - Why crop family beats any pairwise grid on a shed wall - How to print a chart that survives a season outdoors Key Takeaway Print **spacing and crop families first**. Those two are unambiguous, hold up everywhere, and are the details you actually forget while planting. Companion pairings are the decorative part of the chart, not the load-bearing part. ![Vegetable bed with alternating rows of carrots and onions, marigolds at the corners and lettuce interplanted between young brassicas](https://growperma.com/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0444-body1-carrots-and-onions-20260813-173651.webp) ## Which Companion Pairings Are Worth Printing? ![Close-up of a basil plant growing beside a ripening tomato plant with straw mulch and dark soil beneath](https://growperma.com/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0444-float-left-basil-tomato-20260813-173700.webp) The ones with a stated mechanism. [University of Maryland Extension](https://extension.umd.edu/resource/vegetable-succession-and-companion-planting) frames companion planting as intentional interplanting for a specific purpose, and that framing is the filter: if nobody can say *how* a pairing works, it does not earn wall space. Basil and tomatoes is the interesting case. It is on every chart as pest control, and the hornworm claim does not hold up. But basil and tomatoes want identical conditions, occupy different heights, and basil covers soil the tomato does not use. That is a legitimate space-efficiency pairing, just not the one the chart claims. | Pairing | Mechanism | Confidence | | --- | --- | --- | | Carrots + onions | Onion volatiles disrupt carrot rust fly host-finding | Measured | | Corn + beans + squash | Trellis, nitrogen, living mulch | Historical and documented | | Broccoli + lettuce or spinach | Brassica canopy shades cool-season greens | Extension endorsed | | Marigolds + root crops | Root exudates suppress soil nematodes | Measured, root zone only | | Flowering herbs + anything | Beneficial insect and pollinator habitat | Extension endorsed | | Tomatoes + basil | Space efficiency, shared conditions | Practical, not pest control | Sources: [Uvah & Coaker (1984)](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1570-7458.1984.tb03422.x), [Penn State Extension](https://extension.psu.edu/programs/master-gardener/counties/adams/news/companion-planting-an-age-old-gardening-method-making-a-modern-comeback), [UMN Extension](https://extension.umn.edu/gardening-minnesota/companion-planting-home-gardens), [USDA National Agricultural Library](https://www.nal.usda.gov/collections/stories/three-sisters). [University of Florida IFAS](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/duvalco/2026/03/02/companion-planting-can-help-reduce-or-eliminate-insecticide-use-in-the-garden/) makes the point that extension research across the country has now identified strategies that are demonstrably effective, which is a real shift from the era when the whole subject was hearsay. Print those. Leave the rest. ## Which "Never Plant Together" Rules Hold Up? **Antagonisms are actually the more reliable half of the chart**, because the mechanisms are concrete: shared diseases, allelopathy, and competition. These are worth more shed-wall space than most charts give them. | Avoid | Why | | --- | --- | | Tomatoes near potatoes | Both nightshades, share late blight | | Anything under black walnut | Juglone is allelopathic to nightshades | | Fennel near most vegetables | Documented allelopathic effects | | Brassicas following brassicas | Shared pest and disease complex builds | | Corn shading short crops | Straightforward light competition | | Two squash varieties for seed | Cross-pollination ruins saved seed | Sources: [UC Master Gardeners of San Diego County](https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardener-program-san-diego-county/article/companion-planting-chart), [University of Wisconsin Extension](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/using-crop-rotation-home-vegetable-garden-0/). The Onion and Bean Rule Is Weak Nearly every chart says alliums stunt legumes. The evidence for this in a home garden bed is thin, and gardeners grow them adjacent successfully all the time. Treat it as unproven rather than a rule. This matters because a chart full of unverified prohibitions makes you waste bed space avoiding problems that were never demonstrated. ![Illustrated infographic of five vegetable family groups for crop rotation: nightshades, brassicas, legumes, alliums and cucurbits](https://growperma.com/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0444-infographic-crop-families-20260813-173654.webp) ## Why Crop Families Beat a Pairwise Grid Here is the single most useful thing you can print, and almost no companion chart includes it. **Group your vegetables by botanical family and rotate those groups.** [University of Wisconsin Extension](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/using-crop-rotation-home-vegetable-garden-0/) notes rotation reduces insect damage, limits disease development and helps manage soil fertility. Families share pests and diseases, so moving a whole family is what actually breaks those cycles. Five groups cover most home gardens: nightshades, brassicas, legumes, alliums and cucurbits. Rotation also spreads the fertility demand around, which is why it pairs naturally with building [living soil](https://growperma.com/blog/soil-health-guide-how-to-build-living-soil-for-a-thriving-garden) rather than feeding individual plants. Why This Works: Disrupting the Pattern A pest that overwinters in your soil emerges expecting to find the same host it fed on last year. Rotating by family means it emerges into a crop it cannot eat. This is the permaculture principle of designing for the whole system rather than treating symptoms, and it is why a rotation plan outperforms any amount of pairing optimisation within a single season. ![Gardener holding a laminated planting chart and a trowel beside a half-planted vegetable bed marked out with string lines](https://growperma.com/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0444-body2-using-chart-in-garden-20260813-173652.webp) ## How Do You Print a Chart That Survives the Season? ![Hands sliding a printed garden chart into a clear plastic sheet protector on a soil-dusted potting bench](https://growperma.com/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0444-float-right-laminating-chart-20260813-173701.webp) There is no research on this, so treat what follows as practical advice rather than evidence. It is, however, advice earned from several charts that dissolved. 1 Print landscape, one sheet If it runs to two pages you will only ever read page one. Force it onto a single sheet at 11 by 17 inches (28 by 43 cm) if your printer allows, or letter size if not. 2 Put spacing at the top It is the thing you check most and the thing you forget most. Pairings go at the bottom where you will glance at them once a season. 3 Sheet protector, not lamination Around $2 and it slides in and out, so you can update the chart as you learn what works in your own beds. Laminating freezes a document you should be editing. 4 Write on it in pencil Note what actually happened in your garden this season. After three years your annotations will be worth more than the printed content. That last step is the real point. A generic chart is a starting position. Your own records of what performed in your soil, in your climate, beat any published pairing table. For the full reference behind the printed version, our [complete companion planting chart](https://growperma.com/blog/companion-planting-chart-the-complete-guide-for-every-vegetable) covers every common vegetable, and [what not to plant together](https://growperma.com/blog/what-not-to-plant-together-the-complete-incompatibility-guide) goes deeper on the antagonisms. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Where can I get a companion planting chart PDF? Several university extension services publish free charts, and those are the ones to start from because they carry institutional review. [UC Master Gardeners of San Diego County](https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardener-program-san-diego-county/article/companion-planting-chart) publish a comprehensive pairing chart including explicit incompatibilities. Compare any chart you find against a second source before printing it, because the commercial charts that circulate on social media are usually redrawn from the same unattributed 1970s original and repeat its errors faithfully. ### How accurate are companion planting charts generally? Mixed, and the accuracy is not evenly distributed. Spacing data and crop family groupings are reliable, because they come from published horticultural reference sources. Pest-repellent pairing claims are much weaker and are where most errors live. A useful test: if the chart states a mechanism, it is probably drawing on real sources. If it just lists friends and enemies with no explanation, it is a copy of a copy. ### Should I follow the chart exactly? No, and this is the most freeing thing to understand. Use it for spacing and rotation, which are near-universal, and treat pairing suggestions as low-cost experiments. Interplanting basil with tomatoes costs nothing and uses space you were not using anyway. Rearranging an entire bed to avoid an unproven antagonism costs you a season of production. Weight your effort accordingly. ### What spacing should go on the chart? Whatever your regional extension service publishes for your area, because spacing recommendations vary with climate and season length. Include both in-row and between-row figures, since companion planting only works when the spacing supports it. Crowding two crops into the space meant for one produces competition, not cooperation, which is the most common way a well-intentioned interplanting scheme fails. ### Does companion planting actually increase yields? Sometimes, and usually through space efficiency rather than magic. Filling the ground between slow-growing crops with fast ones raises total production per square foot because you are harvesting light that would otherwise hit bare soil. Pest-reduction benefits are real but narrower than charts suggest, and mostly come from diversity and beneficial insect habitat rather than any specific pairing. Our guide to [three sisters planting](https://growperma.com/blog/three-sisters-planting-the-original-companion-garden) shows what a genuinely productive polyculture looks like. Get the Weekly Dig One practical permaculture guide a week, written for gardeners who do this on weekends: companion pairings that hold up under scrutiny, and the ones that do not. Free, no spam, unsubscribe any time. [Join the Weekly Dig](https://growperma.com/newsletter) [Browse All Guides →](https://growperma.com/blog) ## Resources - [UC Master Gardeners San Diego — Companion planting chart](https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardener-program-san-diego-county/article/companion-planting-chart) - [UMD Extension — Vegetable succession and companion planting](https://extension.umd.edu/resource/vegetable-succession-and-companion-planting) - [UMN Extension — Companion planting in home gardens](https://extension.umn.edu/gardening-minnesota/companion-planting-home-gardens) - [Penn State Extension — Companion planting principles](https://extension.psu.edu/programs/master-gardener/counties/adams/news/companion-planting-an-age-old-gardening-method-making-a-modern-comeback) - [UF IFAS — Companion planting to reduce insecticide use](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/duvalco/2026/03/02/companion-planting-can-help-reduce-or-eliminate-insecticide-use-in-the-garden/) - [WSU Extension — Gardening with companion plants](https://pubs.extension.wsu.edu/product/gardening-with-companion-plants-home-garden-series/) - [Wisconsin Extension — Crop rotation in the home vegetable garden](https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/using-crop-rotation-home-vegetable-garden-0/) - [UGA Extension — Trap cropping for small-market growers](https://fieldreport.caes.uga.edu/publications/C1118/trap-cropping-for-small-market-vegetable-growers/) - [Uvah & Coaker (1984) — Mixed cropping and carrot pests](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1570-7458.1984.tb03422.x) - [USDA National Agricultural Library — The Three Sisters](https://www.nal.usda.gov/collections/stories/three-sisters) **Tags:** [Companion Planting](https://growperma.com/blog/tag/companion-planting) ## Related Articles ![Late autumn raised bed of frost-touched collard greens interplanted with sweet alyssum and a row of dill going to seed behind](https://growperma.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0548-hero-collard-bed-20260908-064751.webp?width=400&height=220&name=gp-0548-hero-collard-bed-20260908-064751.webp) 8 Sep [Companion Planting](https://growperma.com/blog/tag/companion-planting) #### Collard Companion Plants: What the Evidence Supports Peter Vogel ![Red seven-spotted ladybugs feeding on flowering dill and yarrow umbels in a late summer vegetable garden with cosmos and calendula behind](https://growperma.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0544-hero-ladybugs-on-dill-20260907-143702.webp?width=400&height=220&name=gp-0544-hero-ladybugs-on-dill-20260907-143702.webp) 7 Sep [Companion Planting](https://growperma.com/blog/tag/companion-planting) #### Plants That Attract Ladybugs (and What They Eat) Peter Vogel ![Autumn raised bed with a dense band of young arugula growing between rows of kale and carrot tops in golden morning light](https://growperma.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/images/gp-0525-hero-20260902-064850.webp?width=400&height=220&name=gp-0525-hero-20260902-064850.webp) 2 Sep [Companion Planting](https://growperma.com/blog/tag/companion-planting) #### Companion Planting Arugula: What to Grow Beside a Fast Fall Green Peter Vogel ![GrowPerma](https://growperma.com/hubfs/icon-512.png) Gardens That Work Like Forests — the smart-friend guide to permaculture for normal backyards. #### Explore - [Blog](https://growperma.com/blog) - [Companion Planting](https://growperma.com/blog/tag/companion-planting) - [Soil & Composting](https://growperma.com/blog/tag/soil-composting) - [Food Forests](https://growperma.com/blog/tag/food-forest) - [Permaculture](https://growperma.com/blog/tag/permaculture-foundations) #### Resources - [About](https://growperma.com/about) - [All Articles](https://growperma.com/blog) #### Legal - [Imprint](https://growperma.com/imprint) - [Privacy Policy](https://growperma.com/privacy-policy) - [Affiliate Disclosure](https://growperma.com/affiliate-disclosure) - Cookie Settings As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 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