Strawberry companion plants – what to grow alongside these summer berries for bumper fruit crops

Growing strawberry companion plants alongside your fruit bushes is an easy way to boost your yields of these delicious soft fruits. 

Companion planting has been used by gardeners and farmers for many years to bolster the health and size of their crops. By choosing complementing crops, you can enhance growing conditions, attract pollinators, control pests, and make good use of your available space, making it hugely beneficial to whatever you are growing. 

Companion planting strawberries is just one of the elements worth trying if you're learning how to grow strawberries and a way to achieve the best results from your vegetable garden ideas. I have done this for years with my fruit crops, primarily as a form of natural pest control, and it really works wonders. We have gathered a list of the best vegetables, herbs and flowers that will work as wonderful strawberry companion plants.  

Why grow strawberry companion plants?

The benefits of companion planting strawberries can include improving their flavor, or increasing their resistance to pests, such as slugs. Sometimes the strawberry companion plant will do both. Select the right companion plants and you may also improve pollination and boost the nutrients in the soil. These are all excellent results if you want to create a sustainable garden with less reliance on chemical pesticides and lots of soil maintenance.

Strawberry companion plants include everything from vegetables to other fruits, and herbs, and can be used whether you are growing strawberries under cover in a greenhouse, as vegetable garden container ideas, or in a small vegetable garden. These are the best to grow side-by-side.

Herbs as strawberry companion plants

There are many varieties of herbs that can be grown in your herb garden ideas that make useful strawberry companion plants.

If you grow thyme, chives, mint and borage, they are all excellent companion plants for strawberries. 

Borage, in particular, is a long-established and much valued strawberry companion plant. The deep blue flowers of this plant for pollinators attract insects, which then draw in insects that prey upon them, such as predatory wasps. The predators also prey on insects that can damage the strawberry plants. 

Borage also adds trace minerals to the soil, which help strawberry growth. Some people also claim that borage improves the strawberries' flavor. 

Vegetable companion plants for strawberries

Whether you are growing strawberries in raised garden beds, in containers or in the vegetable patch, there are many crops that make good strawberry companion plants to grow alongside them.

Try growing asparagus, beans, peas, spinach, lettuce, garlic, horseradish, and rhubarb – yes, strictly speaking, rhubarb is a vegetable. All work well planted alongside strawberries. Strawberries are good for onion companion planting, too, as their smell creates an unappealing deterrent to many garden pests, especially slugs and snails.

Legumes – beans and peas – grown next to strawberries will improve the soil, fixing nitrogen and thus feeding strawberry plants. While asparagus and strawberries are also compatible neighbors as their roots spread in different ways, so they don't compete for space or nutrients. 

Flower companion plants for strawberries

Growing ornamentals among your edible crops not only looks lovely, adding color and scent, but also brings a number of benefits.

The humble marigold (tagetes) is valued by gardeners just as much for its pest repellant properties as for its cheery blooms. If you are thinking about where to plant marigolds in a vegetable garden, strawberries and marigolds are a classic combination in many mixed garden planting schemes. 

You'll often find marigolds used as cucumber companion plants, for tomato companion planting, with beans, lettuce and many other popular vegetables, too. Many gardeners swear by the marigold's ability to keep pests, bugs, and even invasive weeds at bay. 

Marigolds are just one of the flowers useful as strawberry companion plants, with others including lupins, yarrow, nasturtium, lavender, and white clover.

FAQs

Are there any crops to avoid planted with strawberries?

There a various crops you should not plant with strawberries. These include: cauliflower, cabbages, broccoli, fennel, potatoes, melons, peppers and mint. 

Plants from the brassica family – cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli – would compete with the strawberry plants for nutrients. 

Plants from the nightshade family, including tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant, or aubergine, may spread fungal disease to strawberry plants. 

Do tomatoes and strawberries grow well together?

Tomatoes are not the most productive companion plant you can choose for your strawberries. Strawberry plants are prone to a disease called verticillum, and plants such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and okra may actually contribute to this disease in strawberry plants.

Does basil grow well with strawberries?

It is a great choice to grow basil alongside strawberries. The plants work really well side by side. They also taste great together in a salad and are definitely something worth trying.

If you want to know more about what vegetables to plant close together in your raised beds, you can read our guides on carrot companion planting and kale companion planting.