Gardener’s Guide to Celery Companion Plants (2024)

Celery is a biennial vegetable plant that boasts bright stalks and fragrant leaves. A staple in kitchens worldwide, celery is known for its healthy crunch and versatility in the culinary arena. The celery plant can be easily grown in raised beds or in-ground in backyard gardens. Celery has a long maturation period and can benefit from a little help along the way from its neighbors in the garden bed.

By intentionally planting certain companion crops close to each other, you can help boost your celery plant’s performance. Check out our gardener’s guide to celery companion plants, find out more about the benefits of companion planting, and discover which plants are best to grow alongside your celery crops.

What is Companion Planting?

Companion planting is the masterful way of planting different plants near one another in a garden bed for mutually beneficial reasons. There are countless benefits to companion planting for the beloved crunchy celery plant, enhancing your garden design’s attractiveness, fighting common pests, attracting beneficial insects and pollinators, and amplifying the overall flavor of your coveted veggies.

Besides your plants’ benefits, companion planting uses your garden space more efficiently, allowing you to harvest more varieties in a given area. The diversity that companion planting provides is also excellent for pollinators, wildlife, and overall soil health. Discerning what works well together and how individual plants can bolster others can significantly improve your garden’s productivity.

The Best Celery Companion Plants

Here are some of the best celery companion plants that will bolster this crunchy and delicious crop.

Legumes

Celery is a heavy feeder in the garden bed. Growing celery in the garden takes about 16 weeks, and in that period, celery plants can zap the soil of nutrients. Legumes fix the soil with nitrogen as they grow and flourish, so they replenish the nutrients that the celery plant readily consumes.

Plant some of these legumes around your celery plants:

• Beans
• Lentils
• Chickpeas

Herbs

Fragrant herbs provide multiple benefits as companion plants with celery. Not only do they attract beneficial pollinators to the vegetable garden, but their scent masks the smell of coveted vegetable plants and can even repel destructive pests.

Boldly scented herbs also help deter rabbits and deer from seeking out your tender celery stalks for snacks. Taller herbs can add some filtered shade to the garden bed, protecting cool-season celery crops from too much heat.

Some highly aromatic herb plants that pair well with celery plants include:

• Mint
• Sage
• Dill
• Oregano

• Tansy
• Anise Hyssop
• Rosemary
• Thyme

Allium Plants

Plants in the allium family can enhance the taste of celery, bringing added sweetness to its stalks. Additionally, allium plants release a substance into the soil, which can repel underground insects that seek out plant roots. They also repel aphids.

Consider planting some of these aromatic buddies alongside your celery plants to enhance their flavor and protect them from pests:

• Garlic
• Leeks
• Onions

• Shallots
• Chives

Flowers

Planting flowers in the vegetable garden adds beauty, attracts beneficial pollinators, repels pests, and lures aphids away from prized crops.

• Nasturtiums make excellent companion plants andcan be used as a sacrificial plant to lure aphids away from celery and other vegetables.
• Geraniums emit a strong scent that repels and deters slugs, worms, and flea beetles that can be destructive to celery plants.
• Cosmos attract beneficial pollinators and draw in predatory insects like parasitic wasps which readily eat destructive garden pests.
• Marigolds are a natural deterrent to garden pests that can wreak havoc on vegetable plants. They provide an organic line of defense against nematodes, cabbage worms, and flea beetles. Grow marigolds in the garden to add a pop of color and attract beneficial pollinators.

Brassica Plants

Companion planting with celery can help other plants too! Celery is a great friend to plants in the brassica family. The aromatic leaves of the celery plant keep the white cabbage moth from infiltrating the garden bed. This destructive pest is a considerable problem for brassica plants, as it munches through the leaves and destroys the plants’ viability.

Plant celery in close proximity to:

• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli

• Radishes
• Kohlrabi

What to Avoid Putting Near Your Celery Plants

Unfortunately, some plants are not meant to be interplanted and can cause ill effects on each other when paired together.

It is recommended to avoid growing these plants in your celery garden:

• Corn
• Potatoes

• Carrots
• Parsley