Planting a Strawberry Patch

One of my favorite things to look forward to in late spring are fresh, homegrown strawberries. My kids love berries and there is nothing you can buy that even comes close to the flavor and sweetness of a homegrown berry. Lucky for all of us, strawberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow! They don't need much space and can easily grow in a pot or basket.

Choosing your berries

June bearing or everbearing?

June bearing strawberries produce most of their fruit in June. They typically have a heavier harvest and produce all of their fruit during window of only only 3-4 weeks. Everbearing varieties begin bearing fruit at the same time, but the harvest is much smaller. They will produce a small crop of berries throughout the summer and sometimes right up until frost.

While both types have pros and cons, I personally like to grow June bearing strawberries. We can and freeze a lot of our berries so it is helpful to have them all ripen at the same time. June bearing varieties come in three categories, early, mid-season, and late. I grow one of each so that we can keep harvesting berries as long as possible.

June bearing varieties produce all of their fruit at once!

Container or Patch?

Strawberries are an easy plant to grow either in a garden bed or in a pot. There are pros and cons to both and I'll try to list out some of the biggest ones:

• Container grown plants do tend to be exposed to extremes, they'll need to be watered more often than those grown in the ground

• Strawberries spread through runners, in the ground they can quickly spread through a bed, in containers these runners can be snipped or replanted into a nearby pot

• Container grown strawberries need much less space and are easy to grow on a patio or porch

• Strawberries grown in the ground overwinter more reliably and are less sensitive to weather conditions

Preparing a patch

To prepare a space for planting strawberries, either prepare your patch or container by adding some compost or a 10-10-10 fertilizer mixed into the soil. If planting into a bed, I like to prepare a 4X8 space, with all the sod removed. Once planted, be sure to mulch your bed, it helps keep the weeds down as well as cools the soil and adds nutrition to the soil. I use the deep mulch method for all of my perennial beds, which means I add a deep layer of woodchips onto the surface as mulch. Other mulch ideas include straw, shavings or even shredded paper.

My girls planting into a prepared bed that is already covered with a layer of mulch

Planting your berries

The best time to plant strawberries is in early spring before the weather gets hot. Strawberries will come either already potted or bareroot, regardless of what type you get be sure that you plant them level with the soil. Plant their crowns (the place where the stems meet the roots) just above the soil line. Strawberries do not like to be planted too deep!

Planting in pots

Any type of strawberry can produce fruit in a container! Find a container with drainage holes at the bottom and one large enough for the amount of berries you would like to add. Using a well-draining potting mix, add soil into your container and plant your berries. Place your container in an area that gets 8-12 hours of sunlight a day and water deeply. Be sure to check them often as potted berries can dry out quick!

Feed your berries every 3-4 weeks with a liquid fertilizer. I like to use organic fish fertilizer but you can use any balanced fertilizer.

Planting in the ground

Strawberry plants grow best in well-draining, fertile soil. I like to add a bit of compost into my beds before planting. I like to use beds that are slightly raised off of the ground which helps excess water drain from them. You can make traditional raised beds, mound the soil up for each plant or use the deep mulched method to build raised beds. Strawberry plants will send out runners so be sure to space your plants far enough apart to accommodate them. I like to plant mine about 12 inches apart and lightly press the roots into the soil.

Strawberries are a big favorite around here!

Prepping for winter

If properly cared for strawberries will produce for years to come! When your plants produce runners, be sure to redirect them back into a pot of into the center of your bed. These will be new plants that will produce berries for you next year! Strawberries are very cold hardy but there is a few things that you can do to help protect your plants for the winter.

If you are growing in a pot or hanging basket, put your pot into a protected location. I like to stick mine under my back porch but you could move yours into an unheated garage or even up against your house.

For in-ground patches, I like to add a thick layer of straw directly on top of the plants. When the plants start to emerge in the spring, just move the straw off of the leaves and tuck it around the plants. It'll break down over the year and keep weeds from taking over the patch.

Now be sure to enjoy your berries before the birds do!