Looking to grow strawberries and blackberries in your garden this season but not sure if they'll get along? Both blackberries and strawberries are fantastic plant companions, but do they pair well in the fruit garden? Gardening expert Melissa Strauss contrasts the two and discusses preferable garden mates for both.
1. Companion Planting
Many food crops benefit from companion planting. Companion planting improves nutrient uptake, pollination, and insect control by grouping plants. Two plants must share environmental and care demands to be good companions.
2. Blackberries and Strawberries
How compatible are strawberries and blackberries? Is planting them together a huge companion planting mistake? Let's examine the plants' positive and negative interactions to see if these two tasty crops can coexist.
3. Crowding
Blackberries are brambles. They can go wherever they choose and appear whenever they want. Blackberries may crowd strawberries and destroy their roots. Non-crowding plants make excellent blackberry partners.
4. Root Protection
Strawberry groundcovers blackberries. Strawberry plants chill the ground around blackberry roots and retain moisture. This benefits blackberry bushes because they need lots of water during blooming and fruiting.
5. Increased Pollination
Honeybees enjoy strawberry flowers and visit them often Strawberry plants attract pollinators, and blackberry plants profit because bees stay in one spot and capture as much pollen and nectar as they can.
6. Extended Harvest
The link between these two crops increases berry production for both. Blackberries protect strawberries and strawberries insulate blackberry roots, and enhanced pollination will boost both plants' yields.
7. Similar Environmental Needs
Both plants have comparable environmental requirements. Companion plants should have similar water, exposure, soil, and fertilizer demands. These two plants complement each other.
8. Light
Both plants prefer full light. To optimum fruit production, both fruiting plants need 6 hours of direct sunlight everyday Blackberry vines are taller than strawberries, so plan your garden bed accordingly. Plant strawberries on the sunny side of blackberries.
9. Water
Strawberry and blackberry plants need constant watering. This is especially true during flowering and fruiting Both flowers bloom in spring, and while strawberries ripen slightly before blackberries, more water won't affect strawberry plants in well-draining soil.
10. Soil
Fruiting plants like acidic soil. Both plants thrive in 5.5-6.5 pH soil. The plants also thrive in sandy, loamy soil with lots of organic matter and good drainage. Both berries thrive on a slight slope.
11. Fertilizer
Both fruiting plants need nitrogen-rich fertilizer annually. Both plants only need nitrogen-heavy fertilizer, but a balanced one helps. Blackberries benefit from little fertilizing in April, but strawberries soften. After fruit harvesting, fertilize both plants in fall.
12. Our Recommendation
We recommend blackberry and strawberry plants as companions due to their few drawbacks and many benefits. This pair needs frequent runner and sucker thinning, but production is worth it.Few can compete with these two, so you'll weed less. Borage increases pollination and productivity.
Also see
12 Perennial Companion Plants For Blazing Star Flowers