Companion planting involves strategically placing different plant species near each other to enhance growth, health, and productivity. This practice is effective in a strawberry patch, where the right floral neighbors create a more balanced micro-ecosystem. Planting specific flowers is a natural way to improve the quality and quantity of your harvest. This is achieved by focusing on flowers that attract beneficial insects or actively repel pests.
Flowers That Attract Beneficial Insects
Maximizing fruit set depends heavily on efficient pollination, and specific flowers serve as “insectary plants” to lure necessary helpers. Borage, with its distinctive blue flowers, is highly effective at drawing in honeybees and native pollinators, crucial for developing fully formed berries. Borage also attracts beneficial predatory insects, such as parasitic wasps, which help control soft-bodied pests.
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) is an exceptional companion, forming a low-growing carpet of tiny, honey-scented white flowers. These small blooms are a preferred nectar source for minute beneficial insects, including syrphid flies and parasitic wasps. Planting sweet alyssum can suppress aphid populations by providing a continuous food source for these natural predators.
Herbs like Dill create large, umbrella-shaped blooms that serve as landing pads for numerous predatory insects. Ladybugs, lacewings, and various wasps are drawn to the structure and nectar of the dill flowers. This influx of natural enemies helps maintain a healthy ecological balance.
Flowers Used for Pest Repellence
Certain flowers deter common strawberry pests through strong scents or natural chemical compounds. French Marigolds (Tagetes patula) are valuable for their root secretions, which contain thiopene, a compound toxic to root-knot nematodes. Planting French marigolds helps suppress these microscopic worms that attack strawberry roots.
The strong aroma of allium-family plants acts as a repellent, masking the scent of strawberries from flying insect pests. Chives are an excellent choice because their small size allows them to be tucked in close without excessive competition. The odor from alliums can also help suppress fungal diseases, such as Fusarium wilt.
Lavender offers an aromatic defense, as the powerful essential oils in its foliage and flowers deter various unwanted insects, including moths and beetles. Planting Lavender along the edge of the patch creates a fragrant barrier that helps confuse pests attempting to locate the crop.
Flowers to Avoid Planting Near Strawberries
Planting certain species nearby can be detrimental due to shared vulnerabilities or aggressive growth habits. The most significant concern is avoiding plants that host Verticillium dahliae, the fungus responsible for Verticillium wilt. Members of the nightshade family—such as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and peppers—are common carriers of this soil-borne disease. Since strawberries are highly susceptible, the fungus can persist for years and devastate crops.
Aggressive plants that compete heavily for nutrients and water should also be avoided. This includes the brassica family, like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, which are heavy feeders and deplete soil resources needed for robust fruit production. Tall plants, such as sunflowers, can cast too much shade over the low-growing strawberries, hindering the photosynthesis necessary for a good harvest.
Fennel releases allelopathic chemicals that inhibit the growth of many nearby plants, including strawberries. Similarly, while mint has repellent properties, its aggressive root system can quickly outcompete and smother a strawberry patch, making it a poor neighbor.