Artichoke Companion Plants
If you want 20 different answers to “What should I plant with my artichokes,” just search for artichoke companion plants. When I first started growing artichokes, I was driven mad by all the contradicting advice on what to plant with them. After a few trial and error experiments, here’s a list of good artichoke companion plants and some bad ones.
Benefits of Companion Planting
When determining what companion plants to use in your garden, you want to think about the following:
Plants that will help repel pests,
Plants that attract predators that will eat pests,
Plants that won’t compete for the same nutrients,
Plants that may provide shade for another plant or grow in the shade of one of your plants,
Plants that can attract pollinators, and
Maximizing space and creating an efficient garden
When it comes to artichokes, some of these won’t matter much. If you’re growing artichokes to eat, you’ll harvest the bud long before it opens and flowers, meaning that pollinators don’t really matter.
Artichokes also grow in a slightly alkaline soil with a pH between 6 and 8. So we want to find companion plants that will also grow in this soil and like a consistently moist environment.
Artichokes are rather large plants and the honest truth is they don’t make great companions for many other vegetables, but there are a few you could consider.
Without further ado, here we go.
Asparagus
Asparagus is a great option to companion plant with artichokes. I have mine growing together along a fence line and the different shades of green make for a great hedge effect.
Asparagus won’t compete for the same micronutrients and they are active at different times. I have my artichokes spaced about 4 feet apart and I grow asparagus in between them.
Both are perennials and both will tolerate the heavier clay soil that I grow them in. Asparagus tolerates the wetter soil that artichokes thrive in, grows in similar pH environments, and has similar fertilizer requirements.
This is a good choice to grow with your artichokes and because both are perennials, once you plant them, you’ll have fresh vegetables for years to come.
Benefit: Garden Efficiency
Beans and Peas
It’s no secret that beans put nitrogen back in the soil and artichokes love nitrogen. Your artichokes can also act as a natural trellis for your beans to grow up on. My only word of caution is to be careful that you don’t damage any artichoke roots when planting them.
Benefit: Improves Soil
Broccoli, Cabbage, Arugula, Bok Choy (Brassica Family)
Almost any member of the brassica family makes for good companion planting with artichokes. While not as good as asparagus, they still tolerate fairly similar soil conditions and water requirements.
Pay attention to where you plant these vegetables because you’ll need enough spacing so the artichokes don’t shade them. Brassica plants need full sun and too much shade will diminish your harvest.
Benefit: Garden Efficiency
Cucumbers
Okay, these are on my ok to plant with list, but not a favorite. I like them because they tolerate the same soil pH levels and have similar water needs. The artichokes also act as a natural trellis for them. However, they can quickly crowd out your artichokes and air circulation can become a problem.
If you decide to grow cucumbers with your artichokes, you’ll want to do frequent pruning and cut back leaves so they don’t block the artichoke’s leaves and buds from the sun.
This has always been too much maintenance for me to keep up with, so I don’t plant them together. But you could.
Benefit: Garden Efficiency
Hollyhock
Hollyhocks are beautiful and attract a lot of pollinators. They also need shade in hot climates. If you plant them on the east side of your artichokes, the artichoke plants will provide shade for them.
Benefit: Pollinators and Garden Efficiency
Marigolds
I like to plant marigolds with many of my vegetables because they attract predatory insects like hoverflies and ladybugs. These eat some of the pests that can cause trouble for your artichokes. They can also reduce nematodes in the soil.
If you allow your artichoke buds to open and flower (you’re not going to eat them), marigolds also attract pollinators.
Benefit: Attract Predatory Insects to Reduce Pests
Nasturtium
This flower has a peppery taste and scent that repels pests. You can also use the flowers in a salad (they are edible).
Benefit: Repels Pests
Oregano
Oregano also exudes a scent that repels pests including aphids, whiteflies, and nematodes. You can plant it around your artichokes and create a barrier.
Benefit: Repels Pests
Queen Anne’s Lace
This biennial plant produces flowers in its second year of growth. When it does, it attracts predator insects that eat atichoke pests.
Benefit: Attract Predatory Insects to Reduce Pests
Sunflowers
These tall flowers are a great addition to any garden. They’re a great companion for artichokes because they won’t compete for the same micronutrients. If you live in a hot, dry climate, you can also plant them on the west side of your artichokes and they will offer afternoon shade for them.
Benefit: Shade
Tarragon
This plant also won’t compete for micronutrients with your artichokes. In addition, it has a strong sweet, spicy scent that repels pests that can harm your plants.
Benefit: Repels Pests
Thyme
Similar to oregano, if you circle your artichokes with thyme it will create a pest barrier and repel harmful insects.
Benefit: Repels Pests
Vetch
Vetch is part of the pea family and will help fix nitrogen in your soil. You can use it like a living mulch around your artichokes and when it dies it will add even more nitrogen to the soil.
Benefit: Improves Soil
Violets
Often called Violas, these flowers attract pollinators to your garden. They tolerate similar soil and water conditions as your artichokes and if you plant them on the east side of artichokes they will enjoy the shade they receive.
Benefit: Garden Efficiency
Yarrow
This flower will attach pollinators to nearby plants but also has strongly scented leaves that repel pests harmful to artichokes. If you plant them, make sure you have enough space between them and your artichokes. They don’t do well in the shade.
Benefit: Repels Pests
Artichoke Bad Companion Plants
When considering companion plants, you don’t want to grow anything too close to artichokes. Artichokes get rather large. they can grow up to 5 feet tall and up to 8 feet wide. You’re going to have limited space.
With that said, there are a small handful of plants that will not work well with artichokes. Some will even stunt their growth.
Thistles
Artichoke is a thistle and planting other thistles near it only encourages more of the same pests.
Fennel
Fennel doesn’t play well with many plants, artichokes included. Fennel produces a toxic chemical that can damage artichokes.
Black Walnut
While you may not plant a black walnut near your artichokes, you also don’t want to plant artichokes any place a black walnut has grown in the past 10 years. This tree produces a toxin that kills artichokes and that toxin can stay in the soil for up to 10 years. Also don’t plant it downhill where water may have carried the toxin either.
Potatoes
Some people suggest potatoes as companion plants for their artichokes. I do not. While it has similar growing conditions, when it’s time to dig them up, you’ll damage the artichoke roots. I may have learned this the hard way. If you do plant them nearby, make sure they are far enough away that the tubers don’t grow into the artichoke roots.
Corn
Some people also suggest planting corn with artichokes. If you plant them on the west side of your artichokes they can shade them during the hotter parts of the day. My problem with corn is it has shallow roots and doesn’t like to compete for space. The soil needs are also different. I found that you end up sacrificing one for the other or they both suffer. I no longer plant corn near my artichokes.
Cole Sperry has built an extensive suburban garden at his home in Riverside, CA. He is a proponent of sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint, as well as eating closer to what nature intended. Today Cole can be found in his backyard garden experiementing with new gardening techniques and buidling garden memories with his children.