Alpine strawberries

[sarraceniac]

I want to plant some alpine strawberries in my small rockery partly as ornamentals and partly because I love the fruits and haven't had them for years (why do provincial greengrocers never stock things worth buying?). I've never tried growing them before so any tips would be appreciated. Do I treat them like ordinary strawbs (I grow Gambridge champion) or is there something else I should do? Planting times? Feeding etc.? Someone said you can get two crops a year. How? I can usually Google for info like this but there seems to be nothing worth knowing on the web.

[shirlthegirl43]

I planted one alpine strawberry plant a number of years ago and now have them running riot on the patio. I never trim runners and never do anything bar harvest the yummy fruits.

[TonyF]

Me neither bought about ten plants to France with me - coals and Newcastle comes to mind - and they now cover an area about 12 sq metres.

I don't do anything to them except clear out the dead growth in March and then leave them to it, they propogate themselves and always give us 2 crops per year - it's what they do naturally.

And we can buy them here, usually about €2 a punnet in season.

[Eco-Chic]

I've never seen them on sale in London but I don't shop in the posh shops like Harrods and Fortnums.

I'm going to grow from seed. I can't remember whether they're a sacrificial crop or companion planting

[Alison]

I sowed seeds last January and then planted them out into window boxes in early summer. Had loads of fruit for months on end and although they grew very slowly to start with they romped ahead when the weather warmed up and were lovely. Had a handfull on my cereal every morning until the frosts came.

[sarraceniac]

Thanks everybody. I guess the answer to my question is 'No problems'. So I'll go ahead buying some plants and just let them run (literally). No wonder there is nothing on the web.

[Alice]

I had them in my last garden Sarraceniac. I planted one in the rock garden and it spread to the adjoining path. They grew all along the edge of the path and seemed to produce delicious little fruits all summer. I never did anything to them except pick the fruit.

[nerobot]

Had some alpine strawberries in my old garden. Missed them and now I'm growing some from seed.

[selfheal]

yikes.... ive got about 30 alpine strawberry seedlings growing at the moment.... am i going to be TOTALLY over run by them?!

[sarah_h]

I grew them last year an they were great. This year I'm growing red, yellow and white types. Got them from the US. One thing to remember is that they like a spell in the freezer before sowing them. I popped them into my freezer box for two weeks and sowed them in January. As mentioned above, they're slow to start but really go for it!

[krazy_krok]

These little badboys are really easy to grow and don't need much care-shade tollerant too. Would recomend giving a high potash feed when the flowers start to form, I use tomato feed half concentrate than it tells on the instructions but feed them twice as much if that makes sense. You don't need to do this they'll grow happily giving you fruit for bout 4 years but by doing so will give you a bigger yield

[Ken the Chef]

Which variety would be best for the northwest

[WrexTheDragon]

I have a small patch about 5m x 5m and can vouch they they grow like mad and need digging up as they can spread all over the place.

I get just over 2 kilos from them between June and July, I pick about 60g every other day and have them for breakfast. The little blighter's just keep coming.

I think they taste better than shop bought eating strawberries.

[Pickle]

I'm so excited to read this I have got 2 plants that I was going to put in hanging baskets. Maybe I'll put them in my rockery and let them do their thing :-)

[chris]

I grew them in a hanging basket last year, definitely would e better in a rockery in my opinion! Less effort