What Is a Good Companion Plant for Strawberries? Everything You Need to Know

What is a good companion plant for strawberries? Luckily, they come in many variations. Flowers, vegetables, herbs, and even other fruit work together to provide a bountiful harvest. A lot of different kinds of plants have a beneficial relationship with strawberries. Many companion plants deter pests, and some attract predators while others aid in plant growth or structure.

This type of companion planting has been done for thousands of years by many different cultures. As far as 3000 years ago by American Indigenous cultures. Strawberries have many good companion plants and a few that do better apart from each other.

Soil Type and Location

A good companion plant for strawberries will require a similar soil type. A sand-rich soil fertilized with organic matter is ideal for strawberries and most of their companions. The sand helps to ensure you have well-draining soil. The Ph ideal for strawberries ranges from around 5.7 – 6.2. The location of your patch holds importance. You want to ensure your patch does not remain wet into mid-spring. Standing water can have a detrimental effect on your strawberry’s roots. Strawberries thrive in a full-sun environment, so choose a place with 6 to 10 hours of sun in the summer. More hours of the sun increases your plant’s ability to produce fruit.

Perennial fruits like strawberries are great companions to any backyard garden or homestead. Requiring very little effort after planting, as strawberries grow, they create new daughter plants. These daughter plants will quickly fill in the spaces in your patch. Providing you with the compounding profits of more and more fruit each year.

Strawberries are Good Companion Plants

There are so many good companion plants for strawberries that I’ve divided them into three categories: Flowers, vegetables, and herbs.

Flowers are for anyone looking for a particular solution to an issue while adding beauty to your garden space. The second category is vegetables, as there are plenty of companions available. The last category chosen is herbs. Herbs in their varieties always attract or repel many garden creatures. This makes herbs a companion to most plants.

Flowers

There are many different types of flowers known to aid or be aided by the strawberry. Borage, also known as the starflower, works double time, as it attracts beneficial pollinators and repels insects that could damage your strawberries. Making starflowers along with marigolds is my top choice. They keep away many unwanted insects and pests while attracting pollinators.

Marigolds have been noted to deter soil nematodes. Nasturtiums attract beneficial pollinators required for producing fruit. White clover, lupine, and roses have also been noted to aid strawberries. Some rose owners even have wild strawberries near their rose bushes, as they are part of the rose family.

Quick List

• Borage (starflower)
• Marigolds
• Nasturtiums
• White Clover
• Lupine
• Roses

Good Companion Vegetables

There are a few vegetables that also have a beneficial relationship with strawberries. Leafy lettuce and spinach have often been grown with strawberries as a shield. Like the large strawberry leaves, they obstruct the view of the bright-colored berries from birds and other unwanted pests. The scents onions and garlic release are enough to deter many of the annoying garden pests and parasites that enjoy eating the strawberry plants.

Rhubarb is one plant that benefits from having strawberries as a neighbor. The large Strawberry leaves aid in reducing the number of seeds that can blow in and reach the soil, creating less competition for the soil’s nutrients.

Quick List

• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Onions
• Garlic
• Rhubarb
• Broccoli

Asparagus has been noted as an excellent companion plant to strawberries despite the large difference in soil acidity levels. This difference is usually addressed by simply adding a more or less acidic compost to the required plants.

Asparagus thrives in a ph level of 6.00 to 6.70, while strawberries love a more acidic soil between a ph of 3.00 to 3.50. This difference requires a little bit of extra yearly maintenance. Acidic compost like pine needles and oak leaves can reduce the soil’s pH. This is called ericaceous compost, meaning suitable for acid-loving plants.

Good Companion Herbs

Herbs are known to attract beneficial insects and repel garden pests. Sometimes they repel based strictly on scent alone. Other times they attract insects like lady bugs which eat pests like aphids. Dill serves as a host plant for black swallowtail caterpillars. Sage, basil, cilantro and thyme all deter pests from worms, beetles, and even mosquitos.

Quick List

• Dill
• Sage
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Thyme

Strawberries Poor Companions

If one is to ask what is a good companion plant for strawberries, the opposite should be researched a little as well. With as many beneficial companions as strawberries have, there are bound to be a few that stunt growth, attract the wrong bugs, or worse, bring disease to your garden.

Common vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant can harbor nematodes that feed on strawberries. It is best to keep these plants nonadjacent to your strawberry patch. Peppers and melons should also be kept at a distance from strawberries. Melons and similar ground cover plants are not good partners as they compete for ground space and nutrients.

Sometimes whole families of foods don’t work well together when they are paired with another plant. Brassicas like broccoli, cabbage, and collard greens compete with strawberries for vital nutrients. Making them a poor option for a shared garden space. Strawberries have the upper hand in this relationship as they have the ability to impair the quality of growth in the brassicas. It is best to keep your brassicas in a separate garden space or box.

Even some plants in the rose family wild strawberries originated from can introduce the fungi that cause verticillium wilt. Do not plant any of these vegetables near your strawberry plants.

Quick List (Bad Neighbors)

• Tomato
• Potato
• Eggplant
• Peppers
• Melons
• Rose
• Broccoli (All Brassicas)

Strawberry Companions: Quick Facts

• North American Indigenous Peoples have utilized Companion Planting for over 3000 years.
• Excess moisture left on strawberries will speed up the spoiling process.
• Washing and refrigerating your berries will decrease their shelf life. Do not clean your berries until just before using them.
• Strawberries contain important minerals, including Magnesium, folate, and potassium.
• 600 different varieties of strawberries all originate from 5 or 6 wild species
• Wild strawberries are a member of the rose family.
• Growing your strawberries is the only way to ensure no harmful chemicals in your berries.
• Strawberries procreate and expand on their own through branches called “runners”.
• Runners create identical clone plants called “daughter plants.”
• Daughter plants are exact copies of the mother plant.
• Strawberries are a low-maintenance perennial that will provide fruit for years to come.