Not all fruit trees and shrubs play nice in the garden. Some compete for nutrients, attract the same pests, or even stunt each other’s growth.
Before you plant your dream orchard, learn which 14 combinations can turn your yard into a battlefield — and which 4 pairings will thrive side by side. Smart planting means healthier harvests and less stress!
1. Apple Trees and Cedar Shrubs
These common landscape plants share a destructive disease called cedar-apple rust. Fungal spores travel easily between these plants, creating unsightly orange growths on cedar branches and spotted, damaged leaves on apple trees.
The fungus completes its life cycle by moving between these two host plants. Without one or the other nearby, the disease can’t spread effectively. Keep these plants at least 300 feet apart to prevent this problem from developing in your yard.
2. Peach Trees and Wild Plum Bushes
Wild plum bushes act as reservoirs for peach tree diseases, particularly bacterial spot and brown rot. When planted close together, these diseases jump easily between plants, devastating your peach harvest.
Both plants belong to the Prunus family, making them susceptible to the same pest problems too. Japanese beetles and plum curculio will happily move between these plants, multiplying their damage. Separate these fruit plants by at least 50 feet for better disease management.
3. Blueberry Bushes and Rhododendrons
Both these plants demand acidic soil conditions, creating fierce competition for resources when planted too close. Their similar nutritional needs mean they’ll fight for the same nutrients, often leaving both plants struggling to thrive.
They also attract similar pests like leafrollers and scale insects, which can quickly infest both plantings. While they look lovely together, keep blueberries and rhododendrons at least 8 feet apart to give their root systems adequate space for healthy growth.
4. Cherry Trees and Chokecherry Shrubs
Despite their similar names and family connection, these two shouldn’t be neighbors. Chokecherries often carry black knot disease, which creates ugly black growths on cherry tree branches and eventually kills affected limbs.
X-disease, a serious cherry tree pathogen, also uses chokecherry as an alternate host. The disease spreads via leafhoppers moving between plants. Space these at least 100 feet apart, or better yet, choose just one variety for your landscape to avoid these devastating disease problems.
5. Raspberry Bushes and Wild Blackberries
Wild blackberries might seem like a natural companion for your cultivated raspberries, but this pairing spells trouble. Wild blackberries often harbor viruses that can devastate raspberry plants, including raspberry bushy dwarf virus and raspberry leaf curl.
Both plants also attract the same insect pests, particularly raspberry crown borer. These destructive pests drill into stems, causing entire canes to wilt and die. Keep wild blackberries completely out of your yard if you want healthy raspberry plants.
6. Pear Trees and Juniper Shrubs
Similar to the apple-cedar problem, pear trees and junipers share a destructive fungal disease called pear trellis rust. The fungus requires both plants to complete its life cycle, creating bright orange growths on juniper branches and spotted, damaged leaves on pear trees.
The disease weakens both plants over time and can significantly reduce fruit production on pears. Plant these landscape favorites at least 300 feet apart to prevent the disease from completing its life cycle and damaging your plants.
7. Fig Trees and Raspberry Bushes
Fig trees cast dense shade as they mature, creating poor growing conditions for sun-loving raspberry bushes planted nearby. Raspberries need full sun to produce a good crop, and they’ll stretch awkwardly toward light when shaded.
The plants also have incompatible water needs – figs prefer drier conditions once established, while raspberries need consistent moisture. Planting them together means one will always be unhappy with the watering schedule. Keep at least 15 feet between these plants.
8. Citrus Trees and Nightshade Family Shrubs
Nightshade family plants like peppers and eggplants shouldn’t grow near citrus trees. These vegetable plants often harbor citrus psyllids, tiny insects that spread devastating citrus greening disease, which has no cure and eventually kills trees.
The plants also compete for similar nutrients, with nightshades often drawing excessive nitrogen from the soil that citrus trees need. If you grow citrus, keep nightshade family plants at least 20 feet away to reduce disease transmission risks.
9. Elderberry Bushes and Stone Fruit Trees
Elderberries can host X-disease, a pathogen that devastates peaches, nectarines, and other stone fruits. The disease spreads through leafhoppers moving between plants, causing stunted growth and eventual death in stone fruit trees.
Elderberries also attract similar bird species that can quickly strip fruit from both plants. While birds are beneficial in many ways, concentrated populations can devastate harvests. Keep elderberries at least 100 feet from your prized peach or plum trees.
10. Grape Vines and Black Walnut Trees
Black walnut trees produce juglone, a natural chemical toxic to many plants, including grapes. The toxin leaches into soil from roots, fallen leaves, and nuts, creating a growth-inhibiting zone extending up to 80 feet from mature trees.
Grape vines planted within this zone develop yellowed leaves, stunted growth, and eventually die. The effect persists even after removing the walnut tree, as decomposing roots continue releasing juglone. Never plant grapes anywhere near existing or former black walnut growing sites.
11. Gooseberry Bushes and White Pine Trees
Gooseberries and currants serve as alternate hosts for white pine blister rust, a devastating fungal disease that kills white pine trees. The fungus requires both plants to complete its life cycle, moving between them via airborne spores.
Infected pines develop swollen cankers that eventually girdle and kill branches or entire trees. In some regions, growing gooseberries is actually restricted by law to protect commercial pine forests. Keep these plants at least 1,000 feet apart to prevent disease spread.
12. Mulberry Trees and Blackberry Bushes
Mulberry trees grow quite large and cast dense shade, creating poor conditions for sun-loving blackberry bushes. Blackberries need full sun to produce sweet, abundant fruit, and they’ll develop sparse harvests in shady spots.
Both plants also produce messy fruits that attract the same bird species. This concentrated food source can lead to excessive bird droppings and seed dispersal throughout your yard. Space these at least 20 feet apart, with blackberries in a sunnier location.
13. Hazelnut Shrubs and Apple Trees
Hazelnuts (filberts) often harbor eastern filbert blight, a fungal disease that can also infect apple trees. The fungus creates cankers on branches that eventually kill affected limbs on both plants.
These plants also compete for pollinators during their overlapping bloom times. Since hazelnuts are wind-pollinated and apples need insect pollination, the hazelnut catkins can distract bees from visiting apple blossoms. Plant these at least 50 feet apart for better disease management and pollination.
14. Serviceberry Shrubs and Crabapple Trees
Both serviceberries and crabapples are susceptible to fire blight, a bacterial disease that causes branches to blacken as if scorched by fire. When planted close together, the disease easily jumps between plants, especially during rainy spring weather.
They also attract the same insect pests, particularly apple maggot flies that can damage fruits on both plants. While these native plants look beautiful together, space them at least 30 feet apart to reduce disease transmission and pest problems.
15. BETTER OPTION: Apple Trees and Comfrey Plants
Unlike problematic combinations, apple trees thrive when paired with comfrey plants. Comfrey’s deep roots mine nutrients from subsoil layers that apple trees can’t reach, then make these nutrients available through their decomposing leaves.
Comfrey attracts beneficial insects that help pollinate apple blossoms and control pest populations. Plant comfrey in a ring around your apple tree’s drip line, leaving the area directly under the trunk clear to avoid rot issues. This pairing creates a productive guild that benefits both plants.
16. BETTER OPTION: Blueberry Bushes and Pine Trees
Pine trees make excellent companions for blueberries, creating the acidic soil conditions that blueberries crave. The pine needles continuously fall and decompose, naturally maintaining the low pH blueberries need without additional amendments.
The dappled shade from pine trees also protects blueberries from intense afternoon sun in hot climates. Plant blueberries along the eastern or northern edge of pine trees where they’ll receive morning sun but afternoon protection. Leave 6-8 feet between plants for adequate air circulation.
17. BETTER OPTION: Elderberry Bushes and Currant Bushes
Elderberries and currants make compatible companions because they have similar growing requirements without sharing major diseases. Both thrive in partial shade and moist, rich soil conditions.
These berries ripen at different times (currants in early summer, elderberries in late summer), extending your harvest season. The different flower and fruit structures also attract diverse beneficial insects and birds to your garden. Plant these shrubs 4-6 feet apart to form a productive hedgerow with multiple harvests.
18. BETTER OPTION: Fig Trees and Lavender Shrubs
Mediterranean natives fig and lavender naturally complement each other in the garden. Both plants prefer similar well-drained soil and drought-tolerant conditions once established, simplifying your watering routine.
Lavender’s strong scent helps repel fig pests like ants and certain beetles. The aromatic flowers also attract pollinators that benefit the entire garden ecosystem. Plant lavender around the drip line of fig trees, where it will receive adequate sunlight even as the fig grows larger.