All About Planting Strawberries in Your Northwest Garden

Strawberry season is just around the corner! It is time to get your plants or tend your existing bed so you can enjoy delicious, sweet strawberries within the next few months. Strawberries are a hallmark of early summer and make an excellent midday snack, dessert or tossed in a salad to serve with dinner. Strawberries are super easy to grow, and even the most novice gardener can enjoy the bounty of a few strawberry plants. You will find everything you need to get your strawberry patch started or take care of your existing patch at Greenwood Hardware.

Choosing a Type of Strawberry

There are two main types of strawberries. Ever Bearing and June Bearing are the most common. June Bearing produce larger strawberries once during the growing season. The one crop is typically picked over a 2 to 3 week time and is quite hefty.

Ever Bearing will continue to produce crops throughout the growing season. The main crops will be in early spring and again in late summer and are about half the size of a single June Bearing crop. The berries tend to be smaller, but are very sweet. It is personal preference. If you are planting strawberries with the sole purpose of making jams, pies or freezing the berries, Ever Bearing are your best option. June Bearing are great for eating right off the vine. They can also be preserved in the ways mentioned above.

Starting a New Patch

Strawberries are an acid-loving plant. The first thing you will want to do is a soil test. Ideally, your strawberry patch should have a pH of about 5.5. Use a soil treatment to get the desired pH level. You can work the dirt with a spade or a cultivator. Fortunately, strawberry roots are very shallow. If you are dealing with rocky terrain, it will not be a problem for your berry plants.

If you are working with bare root plants, which probably don’t look like a plant at all and more of a hard chunk with a few roots stringing out the bottom, you will want to plan your rows. Despite the innocuous appearance of those small chunks of plant, they will grow and spread. You will want about 4 feet between rows and about 18 inches between each plant in a row. Soak the roots in water for a few hours before you put them in the ground. Plant the strawberries deep enough to cover the roots, but the crown (the hard part), should be above the ground.

Strawberries will survive cool weather and actually thrive in it. The strawberries should be planted in an area with soil that is easily drained and will not become over-saturated with spring rains. Raised beds are perfect for strawberries. You can also put strawberries in containers if you do not have a large enough space. A few containers should be enough for you to enjoy a high yield of strawberries.

Strawberries can be covered with a layer of straw in the early spring to protect against a late frost. The straw also acts as a moisture barrier and can reduce the amount of water your plants will need. You will need to do mild weeding throughout the growing season. The straw can help cut down on the need for weeding. It is important to note, the strawberries planted this spring will produce very little in the first year. However, next year, with your careful tending, the plants will give you a healthy crop of strawberries.

Strawberry season is just around the corner. It is time to get your soil ready and your plants in the ground. If your patch is already established, you are sure to enjoy a delicious crop of fresh strawberries in a few short months. Head into Greenwood Hardware to pick up your gardening tools to get your patch started. Come on in, or contact us today.