People that have followed my blog for a number of years will know that around this time I will start harping on about strawberries. We have been growing them for quite a while in our garden and we just get more and more each year. But I’m quite proud of them as they are just about the only things that have grown successfully in my garden. So you’ve got another few weeks of strawberry talk to endure. Sorry about that!
But if you are thinking of planting a strawberry plant, then there are a few things that you should and shouldn’t do, in order to for them to grow the best. The great thing about them is that they taste good, they don’t need much space to grow and the kids enjoy helping with them too. So I’m just going to share a few of the things that I have done. We started out with one tiny plant a number of years ago, and now I can collect a large bowl a day of strawberries around this time of year, so they must be some tips that work.
- Plant in a sunny area. If you have areas of the garden that get more sun than others, then it is a good idea to plant your strawbs there, or move the posts there if you’ll be planting in pots. They love the sunshine!
- Plant your strawberries early. May and June is the perfect time to get planting. The earlier that you get the plants in, the more strawberries that you’re likely to get growing.
- Spread them out. They like to have some room to grow and so they don’t have to compete for light or water. So spread them out if you can. It helps when they start to do off shoots for next season too.
- Don’t water them too much. Last year we had a pretty wet summer, and strawberries do not like it! They can get rotten and slugs get everywhere if the soil is too damp. So think about drainage if it looks like there will be lots of rain where you are.
- The runners (or off-shoots) are how we have managed to get thousands of strawberries each summer. However, the runners from a young strawberry plant aren’t going to be as viable as they will take the plant a lot of energy to grow. Runners from larger, older, and more established plants will be fine to leave, and they will root themselves to the soil.
One of the other things that I have discovered is that you need to pick them just as they turn ripe, so yes, that does leave m out picking strawberries on a pretty much daily basis)! However, if they are left too long, they will get a dark red and get much softer. They will also be more attractive to pests in this case too. If you’re picking and find a rotten one, make sure you throw it away so bugs aren’t drawn to it.
On a side note, I do find that my hands get really dry and coarse after I have been working out in the garden. Home of Juniper sent me some really lovely things that are perfect for using after being out in the garden. The Gardener’s Hand Scrub smells amazing and helps to smooth down any rough patches on my skin. It is a bit of a funny colour (but it does contain crushed olive stones which will lend themselves to the colours), but it is really lovely to use. How did I manage looking after my garden all the years with out it?!
If you’d like to try some for yourself, or any other of the Juniper products for that matter, then use the code aaublog10 for free shipping and 10% off your order (expires at the end of the month).
Have you ever grown strawberries or other fruit and veg in your garden?
*all opinions are my own.
These are great tips, thank you for sharing! I would love to start growing my own fruit, especially strawberries! x
Please do, it’s easier to get started than you think and well worth it when you can get so many strawberries! – Admin
Good tips. We did quite well on strawberries last year, but the year before I think I was guilty of too much watering!
We hope you have better luck this year! – Admin
Great tips. We love strawberries but never tried growing our own as I am not very green fingered but the tips make it seem like something even I could manage!
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Definitely get started – you’ll begin to love it! We’ve had a lovely sunny summer this year so far, ideal for strawberries – Admin
We have just created a vegetable patch for the twins and these tips are great to get me started with Strawberries!
Glad you like the tips, let us know how you get on! Children love to help! – Admin
I planted mine yesterday – bit late! Can’t wait to eat them – hoping the bugs dont beat me to it
Hopefully keeping the soil around the strawberries dry with plenty of drainage will prevent slugs from coming along! Good luck 🙂 – Admin
I have been wanting to grow my own strawberries for a while but we haven’t got a garden. Would this be an issue? Can they be grown indoors?
They certainly can! As long as it’s a sunny spot and you check daily for water needs. Strawberries like water, just not too much. Good luck! – Admin
Fab tips! We have got a couple of strawberry plants this year and Bella is loving checking on them each day to see if they are ready to pick yet! Xx
thank you! They are a good thing to get started on the grow your own route x
Thanks for your tips lovely! I’m not doing very well with my strawberries this year. We haven’t even got one! Some years we get some, others nothing 🙁 We always get tons of raspberries though.
Great tips, we are actually growing some for the first time this year and the hubby keeps over watering them 🙁 Im going to show his this, I knew i was right!!
My daughters love strawberries but we’ve always been unsuccessful when growing them. I’ll try your tips and see how we get on again x
really great advice for strawberries I love gardening and use to grow lots of veg and fruit
My dad tried to grow strawberries last summer with Pickle without much success! Thank you for your tips, I will pass them on. Kaz x
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