Strawberries require room to grow over a one-to-three-year cycle. Be mindful of this when creating your strawberry bed, allowing for future growth. Plants need a generous amount of space, so I recommend leaving 30-40cm between plants, and between rows, to enable your plant to grow to maximum capacity. It’s true that, when first planted, this can look like a lot of empty space. However, it is beneficial to provide for the long-term vision for your strawberries to fill the space over time and, while they mature, you can plant lettuce or onions in between. Strawberries and onions are great companions, with the addition of thyme and alyssum on the edges - they all will live in harmony together.
As strawberries have very shallow roots, they are an ideal balcony or patio plant. Remember to plant in a shallow tray or container, as the roots will feed nearer the surface and are prone to waterlogging. Strawberries love to be planted in a bed of compost, bokashi and manure, and will thrive with the addition of carbon such as bark, straw, dry leaves, topped off with a good mulching of pine needles.
Strawberries love mulch and love their roots being kept cool and moist. Pine needles are a great mulch as, when they break down, they will make the soil slightly acidic, which your strawberries will love. Ripped-up leaves, seagrass or straw are other alternatives if pine needles aren’t available to you.
Plant your strawberries in autumn or spring.
When flowering and producing fruit, strawberries require a liquid feed of potassium and phosphorous on a regular monthly basis to form great fruit and to encourage the plant to keep flowering. To lengthen your strawberry-producing season, simply add liquid fish and kelp to either a sprayer or watering can and apply monthly.
Strawberries are certainly a plant that requires water - if you have new strawberry plants, they will need moisture to establish, as strawberries struggle to produce juicy fruit when they dry out, and their roots will weaken and become disease-prone.
With a nice thick mulch, watering your plants twice a week in dry periods will be adequate.
To take expert care of your strawberries, I recommend removing dead brown leaves as the plant grows, which will help to prevent pests and disease. I also suggest giving a good side dressing of well-rotted compost in autumn to your strawberry beds - they will thank you for it.
Apply a thick layer of mulch around each plant at the beginning and end of the season and your bed will be happy for a solid three years. I find after three years, fruit production slows so I choose to lift my strawberries at this time and either replenish the soil in the area, separate and replant or create another bed in the rotation of life in my garden.
You will never regret growing strawberries!
For more gardening advice, visit growinspired.co.nz and discover Claire Mummery’s online gardening course at www.growinspiredacademy.com
