Create A Vegetable Plant Guild in 7 Steps

Have you heard of fruit tree guilds? Companion planting? These are both methods for maximizing plant and soil health, as well as yields in the garden and landscape. While most fruit tree guilds are comprised mostly of perennial plants, you can apply the same principles of guild planting to your annual vegetable production. Here are 7 simple steps to follow to create a vegetable plant guild in your garden this year.

Create a Vegetable Plant Guild in 7 Steps

The following article is a little lengthy, so allow me to break it down for you so you can navigate around where you need. Although planting in guilds is a lot like companion planting, there are some differences. Rather, guild planting is more like taking companion planting several steps further and using, perhaps, a little more planning.

To help you plan well, this article will explain a little bit about permaculture, which is where you’ll find the term “plant guild” repeated most often. 

Then we’ll discuss what a plant guild is and how it functions. We’ll cover the seven steps to creating one by showing you an example, and then further explaining the components of that example.

We’ll also talk about how the plants in a guild can perform more than one job; like mint which is a ground cover but also a tasty tea plant and bad bug confuser.

Finally, we’ll apply what we’ve learned about plant guilds to help you create your own vegetable plant guilds for your garden this year. We’ve suggested several as examples, but we’ve also provided a worksheet for you to brainstorm your own guild ideas. (You can access that worksheet near the end of the article or use the pop up that will appear when you exit this article.)

Now that you know what’s coming, grab and pen and paper to take notes – off we go!

What Is a Permaculture?

To begin with, it’s important to be sure we’re on the same page when it comes to defining a plant guild. The term plant guild is one you’ll encounter in any literature having to do with a design technique called permaculture. So, let’s define permaculture a bit.

Permaculture is a primarily agricultural design system that focuses on integrating human activity with the functions of nature so as to create highly efficient and self-sustaining systems. In essence, permaculture uses the natural world (ecosystems like the forests, meadows, and swamps) to inform food systems designs.

Though the principles and ethics of permaculture are broadly applicable to other elements of society, like the home and community, the most popular application of them is in the garden or on the farm; in places that emphasize food production.

To learn more about what permaculture is and why a homesteader would be interested in it, including a definition of it from it’s founder, please visit this very fine article from Tenth Acre Farm: What is Permaculture?

In fact, pretty much anything Amy Stross (the author of the article) has written on permaculture will be worth your time. She’s very gifted at explaining permaculture to homesteaders.

What is a Plant Guild?

Once we understand that permaculture focuses on mimicking natural systems, it becomes easier to define a plant guild. In fact, one of the defining principles of permaculture is to use and value diversity, which is at the heart of any plant guild!

So, a plant guild is a collection of plants that all work together to support and care for each other, as well as the soil in which they grow. Often, each plant will often serve multiple functions in the eco-system of the guild, and even in the larger garden and homestead.

Like those that occur in nature, most often around trees, a plant guild is very self sufficient because it provides for it’s own nutrient needs, keeps its own growing medium rich, and even provides food and shelter for critters and humans.

A Classic Fruit Tree Guild Example

Here’s what I mean, using the classic illustration of a fruit tree guild:

1. In the center of the guild is planted an apple tree.
2. Planted all around the apple tree, moving out in a circle to surround it are other plants like Goji berries. These are perennial bushes that pull nitrogen out of the air and fix it in nodules on their roots to be distributed throughout the soil. Plants that do this are called “nitrogen-fixers.”
3.  To further amend the soil in the guild, plants like comfrey are added. Comfrey is one of several plants with active roots and hardy constitutions that are particularly adept at bringing up nutrients from beneath the top layers of soil. These plants are referred to as “dynamic accumulators.” Because they see comfrey roots as a well-stocked cafeteria, beneficial bacteria, protozoa, and other critters like worms like to hang out around them. This adds even more to the health of the soil!
4. To keep the soil moist and cool, as well as to suppress weeds in the apple guild, groundcovers like strawberries and mint are planted. Over time, these groundcovers expand until the entire guild is protected. 
5. In order to provide more protection for the guild, deer repellant bulbs like daffodils are incorporated. In order to protect the guild from harmful insects and pathogens in the soil, garlic or onion bulbs are included. These strongly scented plants use their naturally occurring essential oils to deter unwanted visitors to the guild.
6. We don’t want to only deter bad bugs in the apple guild, but we want also to invite the good! Long-flowering, hardy plants like calendula, marigolds, and nasturtiums are also included to attract beneficial insects throughout the growing season.
7. To maximize the growing space in the guild, vining plants like peas or passion fruit are also incorporated depending on available sunlight in the guild. These plants can either grow along the ground, up a trellis, or you can plant trellis-like plants for them to grow up. Sunflowers*, Jerusalem artichokes, and corn are a good example of trellis plants.

*Sunflowers are known to be allelopathic, which means they can inhibit the growth of other plants. Be conscientious about where you plant them in a guild. More on allelopathic plants in a bit.

What Are the Parts of a Plant Guild?

The apple tree guild example above has seven parts, all of which perform at least one function, usually more. Let’s explore those seven points and why they’re part of a plant guild. Examining these parts and their functions will help you put together you’re own guilds for the veggie garden.

1. The central part of any guild should be the one plant you want to grow, usually because it produces a food you want to eat!
2. Placed around that central plant you will need plants that build soil fertility. Nitrogen is one element of healthy soil that plants can provide, either by fixing nitrogen in the soil (as with Goji berries) or by producing copious amount of green leafy material (often referred to as “biomass”) to break down during the season. One plant that’s great for providing biomass is borage, which is a lovely edible herb that grow vigorously. 
3. Soil fertility is so important that we use multiple plants to increase it, as with dynamic accumulators. These plants pull up nutrients from deeper in the soil, as well as encourage the presence of beneficial microscopic, invertebrate, and animal life. 
4. Still concentrating on the soil, we then move on to plants that help protect the surface of the soil from erosion, climate extremes, and dehydration. Ground cover plants provide protection for the soil in the way that a suit of armor would.
5. Then there are the protector plants that repel bad bugs and animals so that the guild can mature and thrive. These plants usually have strong smells or adverse taste (from the bad bug and animals’ perspectives).
6. Just as important are the plants that invite the good bugs into the guild. These good bugs are often referred to as beneficial insects, among whom are pollinators which help our fruit and veggie-producing plants create a harvest for us.
7. Last, but certainly not least, are the vining plants which produce food or flowers in the marginal, unused areas of the guild that would otherwise go to waste (as in, not produce anything). Vines can grow along the ground or on any perennial or branching plant. They can even grow on nearby trees or buildings – they’re highly adaptable!

Plants That Perform More Than One Function

Plants really are amazing creations – almost magical in their functions. One of the neatest things about them is that they do more than just one thing at a time – they’re the ultimate multi-taskers!

In permaculture parlance, this characteristic of performing more than one job at a time  is called “stacking functions.” The more functions, the more likely it is to be useful in your garden, and possibly all over your homestead. If your space or your budget is tight, the plants that stack the most functions should be the ones at the top of your list to plant.

Apple Tree Guild Plants That Stack Functions

Using our apple tree guild example from above, here are a few examples of plants that perform more than one job in a plant guild.

1. The apple tree is the central plant of the guild and one might be tempted to assume that it relies on all the other plants to care for it. However, an apple tree produces flowers that attract beneficial insects (a function called “insectary”), as well as apples that make it so desirable it gets planted by the homesteader. The trunk and branches also provide scaffolding for vining plants.
2. The Goji berry bush does fix nitrogen but it also produces flowers (insectary) and berries which are highly nutritive and edible for both animals and people.
3. Comfrey is a dynamic accumulator but it also produces huge amounts of biomass during the growing season in the form of leaves. The leaves can be cut and left on the topsoil to break down and feed the soil over the season, or be added to the compost pile. They can also be harvested and fermented to make compost tea which can be applied as a foliar spray. 
4. I don’t actually grow strawberries for the berries since they make such great ground covers. However, the berries are delicious and make an excellent cash crop if you’re looking for a homestead side hustle. Remember you companion planting principles, too. Strawberries mix well with and are beneficial to many other plants (See Companion Planting Strawberries with Mushrooms). Other ground covers like mint provide herbal leaves for health and cosmetics, among other things. (Mint is a very versatile herb!) Mint can also repel damaging bugs.
5. Daffodils do deter deer but they also provide early spring pollen for pollinators. Garlic and onions are edible from greens to bulb and are both considered beneficial for the human immune system. 
6. Calendula, marigolds, and nasturtiums are all insectary but they also have other beneficial properties. Calendula is a wellness herbs that’s particularly good for skin problems. (See Companion Planting with Herbs.) Marigolds are an excellent natural dye plant. Nasturtiums have a peppery flavor that blends well into salads; both the flower and leaves are edible. As an added bonus, the dried flowers of nasturtiums can be added to homemade pasta, while the seed heads can be pickled like capers.
7. We usually grow peas simply because they produce delicious pea pods but as a member of the legume family, they also fix nitrogen (though not as much as a plant like Goji). Passion flower fruit, also called maypop, is often used for wellness but the flowers themselves produce a large pollen that is favored by big pollinators like carpenter bees.

And the lists of functions go on and on!

More Than One Plant Will Work in a Plant Guild

Just as a quick FYI, there are any number of plants that can be used in a plant guild. For example, you can download this free list from Midwest Permaculture which outlines 80 of their favorite Plants for Permaculture Guilds in the Midwest. And there are a lot of other lists out there!

For example, if you need a dynamic accumulator but don’t want to plant comfrey for some reason, you can instead grow:

• Yarrow
• Stinging Nettle
• Parsley

All of which will also scavenger for nutrients throughout the soil and produce lots of helpful biomass. (Be sure to read up on Stinging Nettle before you plant or forage it.)

One other thing to consider is that what you plant into a guild when it’s young, may need to be removed as the guild matures. When the guild is young and the larger plants are still growing, many quick growing plants like vines and long-stalked perennial flowers are grown. Later, once the guild has matured, these plants can be divided or relocated altogether.

Apply the Plant Guild Structure to Vegetable Gardens

This section includes four suggested vegetable plant guilds for your garden, including what each plant does. Look for the pattern you’ve already learned about. You’ll see that I’ve kept these guild suggestions really simple; in fact, you might notice some items missing from our list of seven.

Can you see which ones are missing in each plant guild?

After the guild examples, there’s a download link for you to access a sheet that has these four guild ideas, plus two more. Included in that download is another sheet for you to brainstorm your own guilds. Let me know if you need any help, and please share your ideas with me in the comments!

3 Sisters Plant Guild

This first plant guild suggestion is one that will be familiar to most companion planting gardeners. Used for centuries by Native Americans, the combination of corn stalks, beans, and pumpkin is a classic. What happens when we apply a few more guild plants to this mix?

• Corn – Structure for Beans
• String Beans – Nitrogen Fixer
• Pumpkin – Ground Cover/Shade
• Comfrey* – Nutrient Accumulator/ Green Manure
• Cayenne Pepper – Wellness Herb (Plant at Perimeter to Ensure 6 Hours of Sunlight)

Tomato Guild

• Tomato – Planted in Center – Cash Crop/Shade Provider
• Garlic* – Pest Deterrent, Cash Crop
• Basil* – Pest Deterrent
• Nasturtium – Beneficial Insect Attractor/Edible/Keeps Soil Cool
• Parsley* – Nutrient Accumulator
• Borage – Nutrient Accumulator (Tomatoes Are Heavy Feeders and Need Nutrients!)

Carrot Guild

• Rosemary – Pest Deterrent (Perennial Planted in Center)
• Carrots – Cash Crop
• Lettuce – Keeps Soil Moist/Quick Crop
• Calendula* – Nutrient Accumulator
• Borage* – Green Manure/Beneficial Insect Attractor

Sweet Potato Guild

• Sweet Potatoes – Cash Crop/Ground Cover/Keeps Soil Cool
• Horseradish – At Perimeter – Pest & Disease Deterrent
• Radish – Quick Crop
• Bush Beans – Nitrogen Fixer
• Yarrow – Nutrient Accumulator/Beneficial Insect Attractor/Wellness Herb/Soil Decompactor

*I tend to plant the asterisked plants all over my homestead because they are so useful and typically easy to grow.

To get the sheet with these suggestions, plus two more, just use the form below to get the download. Included in the download is a worksheet for you to figure out your own veggie guilds for this year’s veggie garden.

Make Your Own Vegetable Plant Guilds

Now it’s time to brainstorm a few of your own vegetable plant guilds! There are a few ways to do this:

1. Pick an annual veggie that you want to grow and follow the list of guild elements to see what other plants you’d like to plant around or with it.
2. Pick a perennial plant to use as your center; plants like rosemary, asparagus, rhubarb, etc. Choose annual veggies and other support plants that will benefit from the perennial’s steady presence in the vegetable garden. Please note: don’t plant any annual veggie near the perennial that has roots you will need to dig up (like a potato). This can damage the root system of your perennial. Give the perennial a wide enough berth to not interfere with its roots.
3. Consider the guild principles we’ve discussed and then throw some seed or plants in the ground and see what happens! Truly, this can be a great way to make new discoveries about your climate, your garden, and the ecosystems specific to your space. 

Any way you choose to do it, keep good notes about the results! I hope the downloadable sheets will help.

Remember Allelopathy in Plants

Experimentation is the best way to learn what performs well in your area and in your garden. However, be aware that some plants have allelopathic characteristics, which means they can harm or stunt the growth of other plants. These plants produce biochemicals that  are basically in competition with other plants chemicals in the soil. 

Walnut trees are probably the most famous of these allelopathic plants. Others include eucalyptus trees, knapweed, wild garlic mustard, sunflower, and sorghum. Capsaicin is an allelopathic chemical found in the pepper family that can adversely effect common veggie plants like lettuce.

These plants aren’t wholly bad, however. For example, marigold roots release alpha-terthienyl, a chemical that prevents root-knot nematode eggs from hatching. Capsaicin (the pepper family chemical I mentioned) can deter harmful, veggie-chomping caterpillars.

Also, Brassicas like mustard and kale can suppress fungal pathogens in the soil. Wheat, a popular cover crop in the veggie garden, suppresses the growth of grassy weeds in your soil.

Is it Safe to Plant Allelopathic Plants in my Guilds?

Again, the best teacher is experimentation and observation. Your native soil structure is going to be different from mine, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Combine plants in the garden, take notes, read garden literature, take more notes, do more experimentation.

Furthermore, some plants are far bigger bullies in the soil substrate than others. For example, a walnut tree can significantly damage the growth of something as large as an apple tree. They can even damage you (especially your skin), if you’re sensitive to the chemical they exude called juglone. 

And yet other plants like the awesome ground cover ajuga (bugleweed) and native shrubs like viburnum grow well around walnut trees. They’ve adapted to the chemical over time – in essence, they “got over it.” 

Some Things to Think About:

1. In my garden, I use marigolds liberally; they’re pretty much found everywhere I have vegetables growing. I tend to keep my sensitive loose leaf lettuce plants away from them, but that’s all the precaution I ever take.
2. Peppers, especially cayenne varieties, are also spread liberally around my garden like sentinels against the blasted, veggie chomping,  non-beneficial caterpillars.
3. Sunflowers I plant around the periphery of the garden. One year I did end up with tomatoes right next to a row of sunflowers but didn’t observe any growth suppression because of it. Of course, they were indeterminate tomatoes which grow like leviathans with little regard to anyone or anything else around them.
4. I don’t grow Brassicas (cabbage, kale, broccoli, mustards) next to anything in the Nightshade family (tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, peppers) because they don’t play nicely together. That may be more the result of two big plant families flexing their root muscles in a mad grab for nutrients. Kind of like two mob bosses attacking each other for control of the neighborhood.
5. Sometimes what you read online or in a book just doesn’t turn out to be true where you live. For example, everywhere you look online you read that fennel is a bad companion plant. I haven’t found that to be true in my garden. Fennel attracts pollinators and other beneficial insects. It also exudes essential oils that tell soft-bodied damaging insects to steer clear of my garden. Additionally, I’ve found that the Nightshade family really responds well to having fennel nearby.

Bottom line, don’t freak out about allelopathy – use it to your advantage! One of my favorite permaculture quips is that, “The problem is the solution!”

More Plant Guild Resources

To learn more about how the guild principles apply to home gardens, please read this article from Permaculture News entitled, “Guilds for the Small Scale Home Garden.”

For more information on building plant health in natural ways, please watch this webinar  from Advancing Eco Agriculture. It’s a bit of an advanced dive into plant health but once you ponder the information, you may discover it’s paradigm shifting!

Plant Guild Resources

Introduction to Permaculture

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What are Goji Berries?

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Flowering Herb: Borage

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Must Have, Must Grow Wellness Herbs

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How to Plan and Plant a Medicinal Herb Garden

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How to Plant a Fruit Tree

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How To Make And Use Compost Tea – The Perfect All-Natural Fertilizer!

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Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for a Healthier Garden

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