A Beginners Guide
Strawberries can be grown in most gardens but are particularly successful in
milder areas with frost free autumns.
If space is limited they are very suitable for container growing - in pots, hanging baskets, even window boxes. Best of all is a strawberry tower or terracotta strawberry pot which allows you to grow a lot of plants in one place and has the added advantage of keeping the fruit off the ground and so dirt free. There are early, mid-season and late varieties so you could try a mixture of plants to extend your season.
If using a container, use good compost and a slow-release fertiliser and soak the soil before planting.
Have some netting ready
for when the fruit appears or the birds might beat you to it! If planting in the garden, you could consider planting through black plastic sheeting, pegged down and the edges buried to stop it blowing away.
It’s best to mound
up the soil in the centre where the plants will grow so that water will run off either side. Using this method means no weeding is required and you won’t need to put straw or other matting under the plants to keep the fruit clean. It also helps keep in the moisture and encourages early crops by warming the soil. Protect the flowers in spring if frost is expected, with double sheets of newspaper. Replace plants every 2-3 years which can be done cheaply by spreading out some of the runners from a plant and pegging them down. Once they have rooted and are growing well, lift carefully, detach from the parent plant and transplant to a new plot.
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