What To Plant Next To Lavender For A Gorgeous, Low-Maintenance Garden

When looking for a perennial addition to your garden that will provide lovely flowers and aroma year after year with minimal effort, lavender (Lavandula spp.), which grows well in USDA Zones 5 through 9, is an excellent choice. In addition to having a heavenly scent, this member of the mint family has many medicinal benefits – including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiseptic properties — allowing it to act as a natural cleanser, a pain and anxiety reducer, and a mood-booster. When given the right conditions — plenty of sunlight, dry soil, and warm temperatures that mimic its native Mediterranean climate — lavender will flourish year after year with little maintenance. However, by incorporating companion planting in your gardening scheme, you can encourage a thriving lavender shrub that benefits nearby plants and reduces overall maintenance.

Companion planting means strategically choosing plants to grow next to each other that have similar needs and that can benefit one another. In lavender's case, you'll want to look for other plants that also thrive in direct sunlight and dry soil, that can help enhance lavender's pest-fighting abilities, and that can benefit from lavender's hardy qualities.

Lavender has many pest-repelling capabilities: Its strong scent deters mosquitoes and flies, while its essential oils help guard against fungi and bacteria. Planting lavender alongside other pest-fighting plants such as mosquito-repelling rosemary and marigolds — which stave off nematodes, aphids, and whiteflies — can create a strong, natural bug barrier that's tough for insects to penetrate. Lavender and legumes like beans and peas also benefit one another: Tall, sun-loving lavender offers shade, while legumes enrich the soil to support healthy growth. Catmint, another member of the mint family with purple blooms, can work in tandem with lavender to attract pollinators to each other to enhance propagation.

Equally important as knowing what to plant near lavender is knowing what to avoid. Lavender thrives in rocky soil, so adding gravel can help it flourish — but that also means avoiding plants that dislike those conditions. You'll also want to avoid plants that require a lot of water, as lavender prefers drier conditions. Although lavender is part of the mint family, avoid planting it near mint, which requires constant moisture and is highly invasive. With the right companions by its side, your lavender will thrive longer, look lovelier, and make your garden easier to care for year after year.