In case you haven’t noticed, bundles of strawberry crowns are popping up everywhere. Grocery stores, nurseries, The Home Depot, you name it, they are everywhere right now so I decided to repost this tutorial on how to grow strawberries for those you who are new to gardening or just need a quick refresher course.
If you have never grown your own strawberries before they are super easy to grow and totally worth the wait. Typically you will find them in bundles of 10 or 25 crowns. I say plant as many as you have room for, but keep in mind most strawberries multiply like crazy, so if you don’t have a lot of extra room, maybe just start off with a few plants the first year.
Brief description: Strawberries are a sweet red easy-to-grow fruit. Their size, taste, and harvest time depend on the variety you choose, so a couple of varieties can ensure you have strawberries all summer long. {I grow Seascape and TriStar}
Where to Plant Strawberries: Strawberries can be planted in raised beds, garden beds, as a ground cover, in pallet gardens, containers, and even hanging baskets. {See what I mean about easy to grow?} Wherever you plant them, just make sure it is in a sunny location.
{strawberries grown in gutters}
Planting Seeds: I recommend getting starter plants from your local nursery or online. They usually come in bundles of 25, and it really is the easiest, most cost effective way to start a strawberry garden, shy of pinching some runners off of your neighbors‘. To plant purchased strawberry roots, dip them in a bucket of water to give them a little drink. Then, dig a small hole, spread out the roots, stick them in the hole and cover them completely with dirt. In a few weeks, you’ll have little green leaves.
Growing Tips: Strawberry plants are not great producers the first year, but should give great yields by the second growing season. Unless they are a wild variety, they typically have a lifespan of 3 years. After that point, berry production goes way down. Pinching off runners and then replanting them or gifting them to the neighbors will ensure you get the most berries, as runners take valuable nutrients and energy away from the berry production. Water consistently and don’t over-fertilize.
How to Harvest: Harvest strawberries when they are firm, bright red, and fragrant–they taste best if you pick them 1-2 days after they fully develop in color. To pick, simply pluck them off the plant at the stem.
Are you ready to start your garden but you’re not sure when you should plant your seeds or set out your transplants? Head on over HERE and you’ll be taken to a handy dandy chart that is broken down into what vegetables should be planted {or transplanted} each month in your area.
Anyone can do this. Dirt + Seeds+ Water = Food!
~Mavis
Gardening books hold kind of a special place in my heart. I wouldn’t be the gardener I am today {or maybe not a gardener at all} if it weren’t for a few gardening books I picked up years ago. I spent almost the entire winter of 2008/2009 reading up on gardening. I found some incredible reads that taught me so much and made me realize how much I didn’t know. So I’ve never stopped reading gardening books.
Here are just a few of my favorites, although if we’re being honest, narrowing this list down was virtually impossible. Gardening books are right up there with the bible {okay, not quite, but you get the idea!}.
My Favorite Garden Books:
- Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting
- The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
- Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre
- Sugar Snaps and Strawberries
- The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food
- The Kitchen Gardener’s Handbook
Stacey says
Thanks for the info! This will be our first year with strawberries (Seascapes!), and I’m glad to know to be patient with them the first year. We’re growing ours in a tricked out, converted rain barrel. Gotta say I’m pretty excited.
Buie says
I have a really hard time keeping birds from eating mine – any suggestions?
Matt H says
We have had problems with birds around the ponds, gardens and fruit trees. We have used bird net that we purchased from Lowes or fishing strung overhead. The birds cannot see it but they sense it is there and leave it alone. Good luck
AJ says
I went to check out your Regional Planting Guide which is an amazing resource so thanks for that!! I’m assuming that since you’re talking about strawberries now that this would be the time to plant them in the NW but I wanted to double check and I couldn’t find them listed in your planting guide. This is my first year trying them so I want to make sure I’m on track, is March the time for planting strawberry starter plants outside?
Mavis says
Yes. I always plant my strawberries in March here in Western Washington. 🙂
Kristi says
You plant in March, inside your green house in the gutters or outside?
Thanks Mavis!
Mavis says
Both!. I’ll post some pictures later today. 🙂
Jenni says
Ok Mavis, I have a question about garden pests and berries. What are your secrets to keeping slugs out? I’ve done the beer thing, and am saving my egg shells to spread this year. Any better ideas? Do you have trouble with squirrels stealing your berries? I swear I am feeding the forest behind my house. I have the berry patch surrounded and covered with netting. That worked for awhile, but now they just chew through the netting. Any ideas anyone?? It’s on with the squirrels!!
Sara says
Jenni,
I had problems with raccoons eating my strawberries and trampling them all in one night which then made the rest of the berries mold under the flattened plants. I built a pvc frame, put field fencing over it for the raccoons and bird netting for the birds. You could also use a fencing small enough for birds, but stronger than bird netting which won’t keep out the raccoons. I just used what I had. It has worked great for everything but rodents which seem to find a way in. Hardware cloth would probably take care of that element too, unless they dug under the edges. I tip it up on its long side to pick and weed. Hope that helps.
PattyB says
I hear they make a tasty stew!
Connie says
We enjoy the ever bearing variety of Tristar. They are delicious and produce fruit all summer long.
Michelle says
We have had good berries for two years. We got a dog two months ago who thinks that the dead berry patch is the place to go. I don’t know if we want to eat the berries any more. Must get a fence up. :p
jane kelly says
Mavis – first time using grow lights. How long do I leave on for broccoli,cabbage,etc. Your site is such an inspiration. Thanks!
A Allsman says
I planted red radishes in with my bare root strawberries. The critters nibble on the radishes (take one or two bites & give up) so far I only have to battle spotted wing drosophila.
Ellee says
That’s a great idea! I am totally going to steal that one!
Dakota says
Do you have to pick off the flowers the first year? I would perfer not to. How many plants would a family of two need? We love strawberries.
Mavis Butterfield says
I don’t. 🙂
tracie says
Mavis why do you buy and plant new strawberry plants every year? Is it to replace you 3 yeasrold ones? Why don’t you use your own runners instead?
Debbie says
I’m sure this is a very basic question, but what is a runner? I planted strawberries last year, but am not sure what the runners look like. Thanks!
Ellee says
The runners are the long, stem-like things with a few little leaves at the ends. When these leaves touch soil (or wood chips, or almost anything), they start to form roots & become new plants. When the plants are bearing fruit, trim the runners & they’ll produce more (& larger!) berries. If you’ve got June-bearing varieties, after your fruit is done, you can let some of the runners grow so you’ll have more, fresh plants (after awhile, they don’t produce as well anymore, necessitating new plants). For overbearing varieties, it’s kind of up to you, but over the summer at some point, you’ll want to let a few runners go & then manage the berry patch again in the spring. 😀
Debbie says
Thank you! 🙂
J. Baalman says
How do you care for the ‘gutter’ strawberries during the winder? Will they survive in that type of container?
Andrea McGhee says
I bought a house with an old berry patch that produced but the berries were in the dirt. I heard the local berry farm digs up their plants every year to add to amend the soil and replants on new mound rows. Is that typical? Do I just store the crowns over winter?
Dale says
Last year I built a raised strawberry bed. 2′ for the bottom terrace 5′ at the top. I put down a few bails of straw in the bottom for fill and water retention. Then i filled it with good soil. Over the winter as the straw broke down, the soil settled quite a bit necessitating more soil. I pulled out all the berry plants and refilled it with soil. Then I sorted out all the oldest plants and replanted the rest. They are doing great so far. Will do the same every year. Also I use beer traps like crazy for slug control. I’m sure the recycling guys think I’m a drunk with all the cheap beer cans.
Pam says
I also would like to know how to winter over strawberries grown in gutters. We’re planning on trying this method but do not want to have to replant every year.
Melody says
Hi. I am wanting to plant strawberries in rain gutters this year, and was wondering what sort of success you all had with this method. I picked up 25 bare-root plants from a local farmer for $5, and I don’t want to tear up my yard any more than I have to, as my yard is about the size of a postage stamp, lol. Any info you could provide as to your success would be very helpful. Thank you!
Mavis Butterfield says
Melody, I get this question a lot, and the truth is, I have found that I found that in the ground is best for strawberries, as far as yield goes, but gutters are fun, and do still produce. If space is an issue, go with the gutters, you’ll get berries, just not as many. If you are looking to make big batches of jam, it’s time to take a rototiller to your postage stamp. 🙂 You can always use them as ground cover in your beds too, rather than tear up any more of the yard.
Melody says
Thank you for the reply! Dumb question – how would I use them as ground cover – just plant them in between my other plants? I can see the advantages – it would cut down on weeds, and probably keep some moisture from evaporating from direct sun.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes just plant them wherever. They make a wonderful ground cover Melody.