Companion Plants for Oregano [What to Plant with Oregano] - Lets Grow Cook (2024)

If you want your oregano (and your other plants) to thrive in your garden, then you might want to consider companion planting oregano with other plants and herbs. Companion planting, or polyculture, essentially just means taking into account the needs and requirements of plants, and what works best in terms of planting different herbs, vegetables and plants next to each other. Today I’ll cover the best companion plants for oregano, and what to look for in companion plants for oregano. I’ll give you a full list of the top companion plants for oregano and why they’re the best. I’ll finish with a quick section about some plants you should avoid using as companion plants for oregano.

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What Is Companion Planting?

Companion planting, in a nutshell, is when you plant two compatible plants near one another in a garden. By placing two companion plants together or near one another in the garden, they’ll be able to help one another grow. Overall, it’ll make gardening easier for you in the long run, and your plants will grow more easily. There’s a whole lot more to it than just this – and I wrote about companion planting here.

Companion Planting Benefits

So, why should you bother with companion planting? There are many benefits to using this method in your garden, as it’ll allow all your plants to grow well and thrive. Let’s look at the specific benefits concerning companion planting with oregano.

• Unwanted pests will stay away
• Pollinators may be attracted to your garden
• You can boost flavouring and colouring
• Shade regulation is a whole lot easier
• Weed control doesn’t need to mean weeding!

Oregano has a strong scent, which means that some pests are repelled by it, which can keep your other plants safe. The strong smell means that some pollinators are attracted to it, which can help your other plants grow.

Oregano can spread quite quickly, which means that there’s less room in the soil means there’s less room for weeds to grow. However, you need to be mindful of oregano crowding out other plants that you want to be there!

Oregano can also shade other plants from sunlight, so you can consider planting it near those plants that need less sun and more shade. And, finally, oregano can help boost the colouring of other plants, and enhance their flavour.

What to consider when looking for Oregano Companion Plants?

When pairing plants together, you want to make sure they have similar needs to grow well. So, let’s take a look at some of the things to consider when companion planting with oregano.

Growing Conditions for Oregano

Oregano thrives on sunlight. So oregano plants need a place in the garden where they can get the most sun during the day. So for plants to grow next to oregano you’ll want plants that also need sunlight. Alternatively, since oregano grows relatively tall, you can plant something that doesn’t require a lot of sunlight and that can find the shade provided by the oregano.

Oregano doesn’t need a lot of water and prefers to be dry most of the time. You should only water your oregano once the soil is bone dry. If other plants require a lot of water or like the soil to be moist, then they WILL NOT make for a good companion plant for your oregano.

Oregano doesn’t need much, if any additional food or fertilizer, so plants that don’t need fertilizer will do well near oregano – they’ll get the resources from the compost or soil that the oregano doesn’t need.

Plant size and Oregano Companion Plants

One of the reasons companion planting is good for your garden is that some plants will help one another grow well. However, if you have a huge plant beside a smaller one, there’s a chance the bigger plant will take over. Oregano can take up a lot of room – oregano can get to about 60 centimetres tall and about 60 centimetres wide.

Oregano can easily grow out of control and take over larger areas if given room to grow. Or, rather, if it’s left to grow unchecked.

However, oregano can do its job as a companion plant when it’s not directly sitting in the garden beside others. The easiest way to do this is to grow oregano in a pot. Like mint, another voracious herb, this is a herb that is best controlled from the start.

Growing oregano in a pot means that the oregano will still have a strong scent to attract pollinators and keep pests away, so it means that companion planting works just as well if you grow oregano in pots, rather than in the ground.

Best Companion Plants for Oregano

Oregano, for the most part, gets along well with many plants. However, some other plants or herbs thrive with oregano nearby. So, what grows well with oregano? Here’s what to plant with oregano.

Grow Sage near Oregano

Sage has similar growing conditions to oregano, so the two will do well near each other. Sage prefers its soil to be dry. (there’s lots more on growing sage in my guide here) So, you can water both plants lightly at the same time. If the two of them are beside one another, a little water will absorb and spread through the soil. You can only water a small amount, and it’ll reach both plants. You can read more about sage companion plants here.

Grow Thyme near Oregano

Thyme is similar to both sage and oregano. Growing these three herbs together is a great option. Thyme also doesn’t like heavy watering, so you can lightly moisten the soil around thyme, and together, thyme, sage, and oregano will get the water they want and need. There’s more on thyme companion planting here.

Grow Rosemary near Oregano

Rosemary is part of the oregano family and therefore, Rosemary has similar needs to oregano. Rosemary doesn’t like too much water either. Not only can you plant rosemary close to oregano and a few others like it, but you can even plant rosemary and oregano together in the same pot.

Grow Basil near Oregano

Basil might be difficult to pair with oregano, but it’s not impossible. Once you better understand how to grow oregano and how companion planting works, you can certainly try growing basil and oregano together. It can be difficult to put basil with oregano because there are a few types of basil. (my guide to growing basil with a variety of options is here), but some varieties of basil have the same watering needs as oregano, but other types of basil prefer to have more moist soil. So, whether you can companion plant your basil with your oregano or not will depend entirely upon which type of basil you have.

Grow Lavender near Oregano

Lavender and oregano help one another out. Oregano will help lavender grow well, and lavender has the same soil needs as oregano.

Grow Tomatoes near Oregano

Tomatoes are another great option to grow alongside oregano. (my 10 secrets for growing great tomatoes are here) While this popular fruit needs more water than oregano, tomatoes can dig their roots deeper and get more moisture. So, you can water the two together lightly, and tomatoes will dig deeper for extra water under the surface while keeping the oregano dry. You can read more about growing oregano with tomatoes here.

Grow Cucumbers near Oregano

Cucumbers, unfortunately, are victims of a few different types of pests. Oregano, luckily, will repel many of these pests away with its scent which makes these a great combination. You can read more in my guide on growing cucumbers here.

Grow Courgette near Oregano

Courgettes are susceptible to bugs, but many bugs that are attracted to this amazing vegetable will be kept away by the scent of oregano. Want to read more about growing courgette? My guide is here.

Grow Cauliflower near Oregano

Another of my favourite vegetables is another one that frequently suffers from bugs and other pests. However, once again, the scent of oregano can repel these pests. So, your cauliflower will be able to grow well around oregano.

In a nutshell, oregano does a great job of keeping pests and other bugs away. One of the upsides of growing oregano is that you shouldn’t need to worry about using pesticides in your garden. Instead of keeping bugs away by using chemicals oregano will do the job for you naturally.

Plants to Avoid As Companion Plants for Oregano

Oregano doesn’t need much water, so you should avoid planting it near herbs and vegetables that need a lot of water. Here are the vegetables and herbs that do NOT make good companion plants for oregano.

• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Celery
• Lettuce
• Mint – here’s how to grow mint from cuttings
• Chives
• Coriander – my guide to growing coriander is here

That’s just to name a few. Some plants like to take over and Mint is one of them. Mint is an invasive plant and, if given the room, it’ll take over quite a bit of the garden. (read about mint companion planting here), but understand that while Oregano itself can spread out pretty well, mint will overtake the oregano.

Final Words on Oregano Companion Plants

Oregano is a hardy herb that can be planted anywhere, near just about anything. So, you can plant oregano near many other plants to help your overall garden grow well. However, some plants won’t do well around oregano (or they’ll make the oregano grow less). I love planting oregano near courgette, (another of my favourites), but for you, – make sure you map out your companion plants and where you want to put them. Then, you can be sure that your oregano will help the plants it needs to.

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