What to Plant With Strawberries: Strawberry Companion Plants (and What to Avoid)

Strawberries are a perennial, so planning around them is different from planning a tomato bed. A patch stays put for several years, it spreads by runners, and it fruits in late spring or early summer, depending on the type. Low-growing, quick crops make the best neighbors, and where you put the patch matters as much as what grows beside it. Here is what extension sources list.

Good companion plants for strawberries

Lettuce and spinach

Virginia Extension lists both as strawberry companions. They are low, shallow-rooted and quick, so they can fill the edges of a new bed in spring before the strawberry plants and their runners spread. See what to plant with lettuce.

Bush beans

Virginia Extension lists bush beans as a strawberry companion. Bush types stay low enough not to shade the berries, unlike pole beans. A row of beans along the edge of the patch, sown after your last frost, works well. More in what to plant with beans.

What not to plant with strawberries

Virginia Extension lists the cabbage family (cabbage, broccoli, kale and their relatives) as incompatible with strawberries, so give them separate beds. See what to plant with broccoli and every pair to separate in the keep-apart chart.

The tomato and potato rule: where not to plant strawberries

Illinois Extension advises against planting strawberries where peppers, tomatoes, eggplant or potatoes have been grown, because those crops can harbor verticillium wilt, a soil-borne disease that is serious for strawberries. Penn State Extension recommends waiting several years after those crops before starting a strawberry bed there. In practice:

• Pick a spot that has not grown tomato-family crops for several years, or use a fresh raised bed with new soil.
• Do not plant strawberries right next to tomatoes or potatoes in the same bed.
• Buy plants from a reputable nursery; disease often arrives on the plants themselves.

Our tomato and potato guides cover the other side of the rotation.

June-bearing, everbearing or day-neutral?

UMN Extension notes June-bearing types normally give the largest yield per season, in a short window.

When and how to plant

• Timing: plant dormant bare-root plants in early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked; potted plants go in once the risk of frost has passed. Our planting calendar shows your frost window.
• Sun: at least six hours of direct sun, and ideally ten or more, UMN Extension says.
• Soil: well drained, with compost worked in. Avoid low spots where water stands after rain.
• Depth: set the middle of the crown right at the soil line. Too shallow and the roots dry out; too deep and the leaves may not emerge.
• Spacing: in the common matted-row system, plants 18 to 24 inches apart in rows three to four feet apart. Day-neutral types in a small bed or border can sit closer.
• First weeks: pinch off flower buds for the first few weeks so the plants build roots and leaves first.

A simple strawberry bed

1. Year 1, spring: strawberries down the middle.

   Spaced for runners to fill in, in a bed that has not grown tomato-family crops.

2. Lettuce and spinach along the edges.

   Listed companions that are harvested before the runners need the space.

3. After frost: a row of bush beans on one side.

   Low enough not to shade the berries.

4. Year 2 on: let the patch fill in.

   Train runners into the gaps and thin after harvest.

Keep cabbage-family crops in another bed. Our raised bed layouts show how to map a 4×8 bed.

Water, mulch, runners and winter

UMN Extension suggests about an inch of water a week, ideally from a soaker hose or drip line, and watering early in the day so leaves dry before night. Keep weeds out, since strawberries are poor competitors, and hoe shallowly to protect the roots. Press runners into the soil where you want new plants, and cut off the rest. After harvest, thin June-bearing plants and remove older, woody ones.

In cold climates, cover plants with four to six inches of weed-free straw after a few frosts have hardened them off, and rake it back between the rows in spring, where it keeps berries off the soil. If a frost is forecast after flowering starts, cover the plants again. UMN Extension also suggests moving the patch every three to four years to limit root diseases.

Strawberries in containers

Day-neutral and everbearing varieties do well in pots, hanging baskets and strawberry jars, because they make fewer runners. Use a container with drainage holes, keep it in full sun, and water often, since containers dry out quickly. In cold regions, plants in pots need more winter protection than those in the ground.

Frequently asked questions

What grows well with strawberries?

Extension-listed companions for strawberries in our checker are beans, lettuce and spinach. The table on this page explains why each pairing works.

What should you not plant with strawberries?

Our sources list cabbage-family crops as a poor neighbor for strawberries.