Skip to main content

5 companion plants to keep your chive plants company

Plants that pair well with chives in the garden or in the kitchen

Chives are easy-going herbs that pack a delicious onion flavor while growing with little fuss. Because these grass-like plants are cold hardy, you can even grow them in the fall. Just after weeks of sowing your seeds, you’ll have a fresh flavor enhancer and garnish at the ready.

Besides their flavor and low-maintenance care, chives also pair well with other plants in the garden, encouraging them to grow and benefiting their health by way of deterring pests. This concept is called companion planting, which is the idea that plants thrive when grown next to each other. If you’re wondering which plants make the best chive companion plants, we’ve rounded up some below to help you plan your garden plot!

growing chives
Melinda Nagy/Shutterstock

Best companion plants for chives

Grapes

Chives are great companion plants in general, but they go especially well with grapes. Because they’re aromatic plants, chives prevent pesky pests from lingering around grapes. They also draw in bees and other pollinators, which, in turn, results in higher grape yields. Chives and grapes, of course, don’t only pair well in the garden. After harvesting both, you can toss them together in a sweet and savory salad. The base of this recipe is relatively straightforward: Mix chives, grapes, celery, mayonnaise, and chicken for an easy and flavorful side dish that works perfectly for warm-weather picnics.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes and chives go together beautifully in soups, salads, and other savory dishes, but they also get along quite well in the garden. Tomatoes can sometimes draw sap-sucking aphids and foliage-chewing Japanese beetles — the great news is that chives work as a repellent. Plus, chives can also enhance tomato flavor and growth without the need for fertilizer. As they’re perennials, chives can last throughout the year and will come back year after year, making them a beautiful backdrop to tomatoes with their white and purple flowers.

Roses

Roses and chives also pair together wonderfully for a lovely flower bed. Not only do the purple and white flowers complement red and pink roses, but chives also help deter pests such as the Japanese beetle. In addition, these herbs prevent black spots and encourage growth as well. While they themselves may have an onion aroma, chives may help enhance the fresh floral notes in roses. Roses can bloom on and off from spring through fall — chives will do so from spring through summer, so you can plan to sow your chive seeds around late winter or early spring for a colorful garden in the growing season.

Cucumbers

Much like roses, cucumbers can also attract beetles. Cucumber beetles munch on the fruit, flowers, and leaves of the cucumber plant, so having the aromatic chive plant by it will keep these pesky creatures at bay. When it’s time to harvest your cucumbers and chives, you’ll have the base materials for your favorite fresh salad recipes with these two versatile greens.

Carrots

Chives help maximize carrot growth and flavor so that you get longer and more flavorful carrots in larger bunches. Additionally, when chives are grown next to carrots, they confuse onions and carrot flies. On the pest control front, chives also repel aphids that harm carrot plants. After you harvest both plants, they can go together for a hearty vegetable soup, whether you’re making a creamy carrot soup or a veggie medley.

Growing green beans
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Plants not to grow next to chives

Thanks to their pest-repellent properties, chives can grow alongside most fruits and vegetables. However, there are a few plants that you shouldn’t grow near it. As a rule of thumb, chives don’t mix well with beans, which are allelopathic plants that produce biochemicals that can hinder the growth of other plants. Beans also struggle to grow next to plants in the onion family, which includes onions, leeks, garlic, and of course, chives. Other plants that don’t grow very well next to chives are spinach and asparagus.

Not only do chives grow quickly and beautifully, but they also make great companion plants for a wide variety of species. Except for a few plants, they encourage most species to grow while repelling damaging pests. Whether you’re planning a garden devoted to flowers, edibles, or some combination of both, you definitely incorporate chives into your yard or garden as a versatile companion plant!

Editors' Recommendations

Stacey Nguyen
Stacey's work has appeared on sites such as POPSUGAR, HelloGiggles, Buzzfeed, The Balance, TripSavvy, and more. When she's…
Lithops care: How to plant, water, and tend to your living stone plants
These cute "split rock" plants can be fussy about their water needs, but we promise, they're worth it!
Lithops in a collection of pots

Lithops are known as living stone plants (and are occasionally called “split rocks” or “pebble plants") due to their quaint, rock-like appearance. They are small, drought-resistant plants that often don’t grow more than an inch above the surface of the soil. Lithops have two thick, padded leaves that resemble both a cleft in a hoof — sometimes earning them the endearing name of “butt plants” — or green to gray stones, depending on the color of the plant. Unlike that pet rock you may have had as a kid, though,  keeping your lithops alive can be quite a complex task. You may know how to water a succulent, but lithops are rather tricky, and their watering schedule will need you to be diligent and observant. But no worries! These oddball cuties are totally worth the fuss, so we'll show you exactly how to meet your lithops care needs.

What are the basic care requirements?
The most important thing for lithops is to make sure you have the right kind of potting material. Remember where lithops come from — aka, the desert — and the type of environment they’re best suited for — aka, well, desert conditions. Potting material that is rich in organic material is great for some plants, but lithops will die if planted in it. Pick something that is sandy, rocky, and drains quickly, like a succulent and cactus potting mix.

Read more
Looking for the best plant care app for your collection? Here are our favorites
Use these apps to easily identify and maintain plants
Phone with plants

Tending after houseplants might offer you a reprieve from digital screens, but plant apps can actually be helpful resources for foliage enthusiasts. You've probably Googled a plant question and found yourself on an active gardening subreddit before, but did you know that there are excellent plant apps out there that can help you troubleshoot plant problems and identify new plants? From PictureThis to Gardenia, find the best plant care app to take care of your green collection. 

PictureThis
When you're browsing plants at your local nursery, PictureThis will help you identify that mysterious indoor houseplant labeled "tropical foliage." After you snap a picture of your plant and upload it onto the app, you'll get an ID as well as care tips. The app can diagnose plant problems and give you suggestions for treatments, too. You'll also have the opportunity to browse through helpful plant guides and consult the app's team of botanists for questions you might have. And, of course, you'll be able to set reminders for watering, fertilizing, and other plant-related chores. 

Read more
Worried about your sick aloe vera plant? Here’s how to save it
Tips on how to identify and care for a sick aloe vera plant
A small aloe vera

Being a succulent, the aloe vera plant is one of the easiest plants for forgetful plant parents, traveling gardeners, and beginners alike (even during the winter!). It's drought tolerant and can easily survive a few missed waterings; however, the more stress you put the plant through, the more likely you are to see problems start to rise. Pests, fungi, and even diseases are drawn to plants that have been weakened in some way. So if you think you have a sick aloe plant, here’s what may be going on.

Can plants get sick?
Yes! Just like people or pets, plants can get sickness and disease — and that includes aloe vera. Your plant will have different symptoms depending on the problem, similar to how a common cold exhibits differently from the flu. And even more complicated is the fact that individual plants are always susceptible to the same things. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the variety of plant you’re growing (in this case, aloe vera) and their weaknesses so that you know what to look for.

Read more