One Of The Best Rosemary Companion Plants? This Popular, Fast-Growing Herb

Whether you're a gardening aficionado or a planting newbie, herbs can be an excellent addition to your growing space. Many varieties of these plants offer plenty of benefits that often go beyond your garden. Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) in particular is often loved for its lovely blue blossoms and distinctive, enjoyable scent, but it's also included in gardens for its functional benefits. Rosemary has medicinal benefits and can help with digestion and skin health, and it's an easy-to-grow herb that can help keep pests out of your garden. Its specific properties make it a great option to help protect plants like beans and carrots. If you've added this beneficial herb to your garden, you might be wondering what you might pair it with. One of the best companion plants for rosemary is another beneficial and fast-growing herb: oregano. 

Oregano (Origanum vulgare) is an aromatic herb with small round green leaves and blossoms that are pink, purple, or white. Like rosemary, it is also a part of the mint family. It's highly popular in the culinary world and is similarly valued for a variety of medicinal purposes, helping with afflictions like an upset stomach and common colds. It grows quickly, so you won't have to wait long to reap the benefits of pairing this plant with your established rosemary. 

If you're new to gardening, part of what you need to know to grow herbs and spices consists of which herbs to plant together — and, equally as important, which plants don't play nice with each other. Companion planting is all about pairing plants together that can be mutually beneficial, ensuring they have similar growing needs such as their necessary sunlight, water, and preferred type of soil. You can also choose to utilize plants that help fend off certain types of pests. In all of these categories, rosemary and oregano are one pairing that are meant for each other. In particular, they're both able to provide some pest control, though rosemary is known to specifically fight off critters like snails and slugs. Both herbs also enjoy sunny conditions and have minimal watering needs, preferring drier soil.

Oregano can give great ground coverage near your rosemary, and the two herbs combined create a nice visual contrast. Both are hardy herbs that are simple to grow. And, once they've grown, they can be plucked and used to create some delicious meals. (Just make sure you know the correct way to dry and store your garden herbs.) The benefits of rosemary and oregano make them excellent additions to your garden. When you add these herbs, though, keep in mind that there are a few things you should not plant next to them, like cucumber, mint, or basil.