Raspberry Companion Plants: What to Grow With Raspberries and What to Avoid

By the Garden Voila editorial team · Updated October 30, 2026 · How we verify

The best raspberry companion plants are flowering herbs and perennials that attract pollinators and beneficial insects, such as bee balm, borage, yarrow, chives, garlic, catmint, lavender and marigolds, plus low ground covers such as white clover between rows. Avoid planting raspberries near tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant and strawberries, which share Verticillium wilt, and keep them away from wild and cultivated blackberries, which can spread viruses and pests, and from black walnut trees. Good spacing and air flow matter more than any single companion.

Top raspberry companions and their roles

What does companion planting actually do for raspberries?

Companion planting is the practice of growing plants together for mutual benefit. Some benefits are well established: flowering plants attract bees that improve pollination, and diverse plantings support predatory insects such as lady beetles, lacewings, hoverflies and parasitic wasps that feed on aphids, mites and caterpillars. Other claims, such as specific herbs repelling particular pests, have little research support and should be treated as possible bonuses rather than guarantees. The Wikipedia overview of companion planting summarizes the main mechanisms, including trap cropping, nutrient support and habitat for beneficial insects.

For raspberries specifically, the most important “companion” decisions are what not to plant nearby, because brambles are prone to soil-borne disease and viruses spread from wild relatives.

Which plants attract pollinators to raspberries?

Raspberry flowers are pollinated mainly by bees, and good pollination produces large, well-formed berries; poor pollination causes crumbly fruit with missing drupelets. Plant flowers that bloom just before, during and after raspberries to keep bees around:

• Bee balm (Monarda didyma): a native perennial with showy red, pink or purple flowers loved by bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. It spreads, so give it room at the end of a row.
• Borage: blue star-shaped flowers that bees visit constantly; it self-seeds freely.
• Catmint (Nepeta): long-blooming lavender-blue flowers, drought tolerant and tidy.
• Lavender: excellent for bees in sunny, well-drained edges.
• Chives and garlic chives: edible, compact and covered with bees in bloom.
• Phacelia and buckwheat: fast cover crops that flower quickly and attract many pollinators.

Which plants attract beneficial insects?

Plants with small, open flowers, often in the carrot and daisy families, feed predatory insects whose larvae eat pests. Yarrow, dill, fennel (planted well away from the berries), alyssum, coriander and calendula all attract hoverflies, lacewings and tiny parasitic wasps. A border of mixed flowers along a raspberry row supports these allies through the season. The pest identifier helps you tell friend from foe when insects show up.

Can garlic, onions and chives help raspberries?

Alliums are popular raspberry companions. Their flowers attract pollinators and beneficial insects, they take up little space, and they are easy to grow along the edge of a bed. Gardeners often report that their strong scent helps deter pests such as aphids and Japanese beetles, though research evidence for that is limited. Either way, they are a useful, low-maintenance edge planting that will not compete heavily with the shallow raspberry roots.

Should you grow ground covers under raspberries?

Raspberry roots are shallow and do not compete well with weeds or grass, so keep a weed-free strip about 2 to 3 feet wide along the row, covered with 2 to 4 inches of wood chips, straw or shredded leaves. Between rows, low-growing white clover or a grass and clover mix makes a living mulch that reduces mud and erosion, supports pollinators and adds nitrogen. Mow it regularly so it does not creep into the raspberry row. The mulch calculator helps estimate how much mulch you need.

Which plants should you not grow near raspberries?

The UMass Extension bramble guide advises avoiding sites where tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant or strawberries have grown recently because of Verticillium wilt, and destroying wild brambles within about 600 feet of a new planting to reduce virus and pest pressure. The Wikipedia article on Verticillium wilt explains how this soil-borne fungus persists for years and infects hundreds of plant species.

Can raspberries and blackberries grow together?

They can share a garden, but many extension specialists recommend separating raspberries from blackberries by at least a few hundred feet where possible, or at least planting them in separate beds, because blackberries can carry viruses that cause little harm to them but damage raspberries. Black and purple raspberries are especially vulnerable to viruses from red raspberries, so keep these apart too. If space is limited, buy certified virus-tested plants for every variety and keep plantings tidy. See blackberry trellis ideas for blackberry support options and boysenberry plants for trailing berries.

Is it okay to grow raspberries next to strawberries?

It is better to avoid it. Both are susceptible to Verticillium wilt and share pests such as tarnished plant bugs and spotted wing drosophila. Growing them side by side, or rotating one into ground where the other recently grew, increases disease risk. If you grow both, give each its own bed some distance apart.

How do you design a raspberry companion bed?

1. Start with the raspberry row, oriented north to south if possible for even sun, with a trellis and a 2- to 3-foot weed-free mulched strip.
2. Add a narrow edge of low alliums (chives, garlic) and annual flowers (alyssum, calendula, marigold) along the sides.
3. Plant taller pollinator perennials (bee balm, catmint, yarrow, lavender) at the row ends or along the north side so they do not shade the canes.
4. Sow clover or a low grass and clover mix in the paths between rows.
5. Keep a separate corner for comfrey, which can be cut several times a year for mulch and compost.

Use the plant spacing calculator for layout, and the sunlight requirement finder to check that companions will not shade the berries.

Do companions change raspberry care?

Yes, a little. Companions compete for water, so water deeply about once a week, giving the bed about 1 inch per week including rain, and more in hot weather; the garden watering calculator helps. Avoid overhead watering that wets the canes, which encourages gray mold and cane diseases. Keep companions trimmed so air moves freely around the canes, and avoid broad-spectrum insecticides that would kill the beneficial insects your flowers attract.

What about raspberries in pots with companions?

A large container of at least 10 gallons can hold one raspberry plant with a few low companions such as chives, thyme or alyssum around the edge. Keep companions small so they do not compete for water and nutrients in the limited soil. See raspberries in pots for container varieties and care.

Which herbs grow well near raspberries?

Tansy appears on many older companion planting lists, but it spreads aggressively and is regulated as a noxious weed in several US states and Canadian provinces, and it is toxic to people and livestock. Choose yarrow or bee balm instead for a similar benefit.

Do companion plants reduce raspberry pests?

Indirectly, yes. The main raspberry pests, including aphids, spider mites, Japanese beetles, raspberry cane borers and spotted wing drosophila, are not reliably repelled by any companion plant. But a garden rich in flowers supports predators and parasitoids that keep aphids and mites in check, and healthy, well-spaced canes with good air flow suffer less from disease. Combine companions with clean cultivation: remove fruited canes after harvest, pick ripe fruit promptly, and keep weeds down. The plant problem identifier helps diagnose damage.

Can you rotate crops after raspberries?

When you eventually remove an old raspberry planting, follow it with a few years of crops that do not share bramble diseases, such as beans, peas, squash, corn, brassicas or a cover crop of grasses and clover. Avoid planting new raspberries, strawberries or tomato-family crops in the same spot for at least three to four years to let soil-borne disease decline.

How far apart should raspberries and companions be?

Keep companion plants at least 18 to 24 inches from the raspberry row so they do not compete with the shallow roots or crowd the canes. Low edging plants such as chives and thyme can sit a little closer, while spreading perennials such as bee balm and catmint need more room. Raspberries themselves spread by suckers, so leave a mowed or mulched buffer around the bed and remove suckers that stray into companion plantings.

Are there companion plants that help raspberries grow better?

Indirectly. Comfrey, cut and laid as mulch, returns potassium and other nutrients to the soil as it breaks down. White clover between rows adds nitrogen to the paths, which reaches raspberry roots near the edges. Most of all, a diverse planting that brings in bees improves pollination, which produces larger, better-formed berries.

Do raspberries need companion plants at all?

No. Raspberries grow well on their own with sun, good drainage, water and pruning. Companions are an optional extra that make the bed more attractive to pollinators and beneficial insects, add edible herbs and flowers, and help suppress weeds. The essential part is avoiding the bad neighbors that share diseases.

Start small: a few clumps of chives, a bee balm at the row end and a clover path give most of the benefit with very little extra work.

If pests do get ahead of the beneficial insects, a targeted, label-compliant neem oil spray in the evening is gentler on pollinators than broad-spectrum insecticides.

Planning more fruit? Browse every variety, planting and care article in our complete fruit tree growing guide.

Site and soil rules that matter more than companions

Oregon State Extension’s growing raspberries in your home garden focuses less on companion plants than on what to keep out of the neighbourhood. It advises avoiding sites where verticillium-susceptible crops were grown in the past five years, listing strawberries, kiwifruit, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and ornamental trees, especially maples. That means tomatoes and potatoes are poor companions for raspberries. Choose a full-sun site with fertile, well-drained sandy or clay loam, avoid windy spots, and use raised beds or mounded rows if drainage is poor, because Phytophthora root rot worsens in wet, heavy soil.

• Soil: target pH 5.6 to 6.5, keep roots at least 2 ft (ideally 3 ft) above the water table, and keep organic matter above 3 percent.
• Spacing: rows 8 to 10 ft apart, with plants 2 ft apart for everbearing and 2.5 ft for summer-bearing; black and purple raspberries 3 to 4 ft apart.
• Mulch: straw, sawdust or bark for weed control and moisture retention.
• Plants: buy certified disease-free plants and avoid digging suckers from existing patches, which can carry pests and viruses.

Low-growing, shallow-rooted plants and mulch are safer neighbours than anything that competes for water, but the source gives no specific companion list. Use our plant spacing calculator and mulch calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Further reading: University of Massachusetts, Brambles; Wikipedia, Companion planting; Wikipedia, Verticillium wilt; Wikipedia, Juglone.

Reviewed October 2026. Sources: Oregon State University Extension, Growing Raspberries in Your Home Garden