Squash Companion Plants: What to Grow and What to Avoid

Squash are big, sprawling, hungry plants, and the neighbors you set beside them can decide how well the whole patch grows. The best squash companion plants pull in the bees your squash needs to set fruit, lure pests like squash bugs and vine borers away from the vines, feed the soil, and make smart use of the ground before those broad leaves take over. This works for both summer squash like zucchini and crookneck and winter squash like butternut and acorn. Here is exactly what to plant with squash, what to keep away from it, and how to lay it all out.

Quick answer

Plant squash with: corn, pole or bush beans, nasturtiums, marigolds, borage, radishes, dill, oregano, and sunflowers.

Keep squash away from: potatoes and fennel, and give other cucurbits like cucumber, melon, and other squash plenty of room for airflow.

The best companion plants for squash

These are the companions that earn their place in a squash patch. Each one solves a specific problem, whether that is pollination, pests, soil, or space. Squash is the classic third member of the Three Sisters, so several of these pairings are proven over centuries.

1. Corn and beans (the Three Sisters)

Corn and beans are squash's oldest and most famous partners. In the Three Sisters planting, tall corn gives the patch vertical structure, beans climb the corn and fix nitrogen from the air to feed the hungry squash, and the squash sprawls across the ground to shade the soil, hold in moisture, and crowd out weeds. The big, prickly squash leaves even help deter raccoons and other critters from raiding the corn. It is a genuinely self-supporting little system, and it is the reason squash companion planting has such deep roots.

2. Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums work as a trap crop, drawing squash bugs, aphids, and cucumber beetles to themselves and away from your squash leaves and fruit. Their bright, open flowers also pull in bees and other pollinators, which squash relies on to set fruit. As a bonus, the leaves and blooms are edible and trail nicely as a living ground cover at the edge of the patch.

3. Marigolds

Marigolds are a garden workhorse for pest control. Their roots help deter root-knot nematodes in the soil, and their strong scent confuses many pest insects while the bright blooms attract beneficial ones like ladybugs and hoverflies. Plant them around the edges of the squash patch for easy, colorful protection.

4. Borage

Borage may be the single best flower to plant with squash. Its true-blue, star-shaped blooms are a magnet for bees, and heavy bee traffic is exactly what squash needs to pollinate well and set full, well-shaped fruit. Borage is also believed to deter some pests, including squash bugs, which makes it a natural fit tucked in around the squash hills.

5. Radishes

Radishes are one of the smartest interplanting choices for squash. They sprout and mature fast, so you can sow them right at the squash hills and harvest them long before the vines take over that space. They are also thought to help deter squash vine borers and cucumber beetles, so a quick crop of radishes does double duty early in the season.

6. Dill and oregano

Flowering herbs like dill and oregano bring in pollinators and the beneficial insects that keep pest numbers down. Let a few plants flower rather than cutting them all back, and you create a steady draw for bees and the predatory insects that prey on aphids and beetles. They tuck neatly into the corners of the patch.

7. Sunflowers

Sunflowers are pollinator powerhouses, and their tall, cheerful heads pull bees straight into the garden where your squash needs them. Site them on the north edge of the patch so their height never shades the sun-hungry squash vines, and let them stand as a backdrop that keeps the bees coming.

What not to plant near squash

A few neighbors do more harm than good. These are the ones to keep out of the squash patch.

Potatoes

Potatoes are heavy feeders that compete hard with squash for water and nutrients, and both can be susceptible to overlapping soil-borne diseases. Growing them side by side stresses your squash and raises disease pressure, so keep the two well separated in the garden.

Fennel

Fennel is famously a poor companion for almost everything. It is allelopathic, releasing compounds that can slow or inhibit the growth of most nearby vegetables, squash included. If you grow fennel, give it its own corner well away from the squash patch.

Other cucurbits (a nuanced note)

Cucumbers, melons, and other squash are all cousins in the cucurbit family, and they share the same pests and diseases, including squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and powdery mildew. You can grow them in the same garden, but do not crowd them together. Give each plant room and keep airflow open so a problem like powdery mildew or a squash bug outbreak in one crop does not sweep through all of them. If you are also planting cucumbers or melons, our cucumber companion plants and watermelon companion plants guides follow the same approach.

Why companion planting works for squash

Companion planting is not folklore alone. With squash, it lines up with a few very practical needs of the crop.

• Pollination. Squash has separate male and female flowers, and bees must carry pollen between them for fruit to form. Flowers like borage, nasturtiums, marigolds, and sunflowers pull in more bees, which means better fruit set and fewer small or aborted squash.
• Pest control. Trap crops like nasturtiums draw squash bugs and beetles away, marigolds help deter nematodes, radishes are thought to discourage vine borers, and flowering herbs invite the beneficial insects that prey on pests.
• Soil and structure. Beans fix nitrogen to feed hungry squash, corn lends vertical structure, and the squash returns the favor by shading the soil as a living mulch.
• Efficient use of space. Quick crops like radishes fill the gaps early in the season, before the squash vines sprawl out and claim the ground.

How to lay out a squash companion garden

A little planning makes companion planting easy. Squash vines sprawl, so start with generous spacing and build the companions around them.

• Give the squash room. Plant squash in hills and allow roughly 3 to 4 feet between hills for bush types and more for sprawling winter squash, so the vines have space to run and air can move to limit mildew.
• Sow quick crops at the hills. Tuck fast radishes right around the squash hills early in the season. You will harvest them before the vines need that space.
• Ring the edges with flowers. Plant marigolds, nasturtiums, and borage around the border of the patch to draw pollinators in and steer squash bugs and beetles away from the fruit.
• Keep tall plants to the north. Set corn and sunflowers along the north edge so they never cast shade over the sun-loving squash, and plant beans to climb the corn Three Sisters style.

Get the neighbors right and your squash patch will be better pollinated, better protected, and more productive. For the full sowing and care routine, see our summer squash growing guide, and if zucchini is your main crop, our zucchini companion plants guide digs into that variety in detail. When you are ready to plant, browse the squash seeds collection. Below you will find the exact non-GMO, heirloom seeds we grow alongside our own squash.