How to grow strawberries

If there is one fruit synonymous with summer, then surely it is the strawberry. This vibrantly coloured, sweet tasting berry is appreciated worldwide, though it does seem somehow very ‘British’ when served with cream out of fine porcelain, in the garden, on a warm sunny, summer’s afternoon.  And while they are readily available in the shops at this time of year, there’s nothing quite as sweet tasting as strawberries you have cared for and grown yourself.

Here we take a look at the steps to follow to grow your own – so you can compare with shop bought, and taste just how good home grown fruit can be!

There are three different types of strawberries:

• Summer fruiting varieties are known by all. They produces large, heavy fruits and are the most popular type to grow

• Perpetual Strawberries fruits are produced from summer to autumn are very sweet but are smaller than the summer fruiting varieties. If you want home-grown strawberries for a long season then plant some of these in your plot.

• Alpine Strawberries although smaller than other varieties, their taste can only be described as exquisite. They can be grown in shade, and being evergreen, make an attractive and decorative garden feature, especially when used as a boundary for flower beds.

There is nothing better than the flavour of sun-ripened strawberries picked straight from your garden. They are the quintessential, warm-summer-day fruit that shout ‘try me; I really am as delicious as I look’.

They are easy plants to cultivate and don’t take a great deal of looking after in order to produce a good crop of tasty berries. And, for gardeners where space is an issue, strawberries can be grown successfully in containers, hanging baskets and window boxes.

Strawberries don’t ask for a lot of attention but they will produce larger crops if they are grown in a sunny, well-drained spot that has a little protection against the harshest of weather. Order your young plants in time for them to be planted, established, and growing, before the cold of early winter arrives, or, if you prefer, wait until spring.

The ground should be prepared well for strawberries by removing all weeds and stones and raking the soil to a crumbly tilth

The plants should be spaced 35-45cm apart with the rows approximately 75cms away from each other. Strawberries can also be planted through a black polythene sheet that helps to keep the roots moist, keeps weeds down and the fruit clean. Make sure that the crown of the plant just rests at soil level and guard against burying it too deeply as this will cause rot to set in.

Water the young plants well until they become established and then water throughout dry weather. To produce those large juicy berries, feed your strawberry plants regularly throughout the summer and stick to the manufacturers’ guidelines as overfeeding can do more harm than good.

In warm sunny conditions, the fruits quickly develop and at this time, unless planted through polythene, it is advisable to cushion them with a layer of straw or mulching fabric. This will help to keep your luscious fruits blemish free.

After your harvest, clear away any straw or mulching fabric and cut off any dead foliage then give the patch a good weed over. The following spring, sprinkle some slow-release fertilizer over the area and mulch the plants with compost or manure.

One way that strawberries reproduce is to send out runners throughout the summer but cut these off to give you the maximum harvest; the plant can then send its energy to the berries rather than concentrating on making new plants. However, strawberry plants run out of vigour by year 3 and are usually replaced. So, you have the choice of either pegging down the runners of the previous year to give you completely new plants in a very short time, or dig everything out and plant new specimens.

Instead of buying in strawberry plants, you are also able to grow them from seed. They are fairly easy to germinate and will give you the opportunity to grow plants a little bit different from the ones you can typically buy.

Published August 5th, 2015 by Jordan. Article ref 3858

Tags: strawberries

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