starting a strawberry patch

[chilli_grower]

I am just finishing fitting a new fence between mine and my next door neighbors house.

Once complete I will have an area immediately in front of the fence of approx 6 metres x 1 metre.

'THe Boss' would like to plant loads of strawberries here.

Having never grown them before, I am after some advice please...

Thank you

[WendyC]

Firstly strawberries need sun to ripen so a south or west facing border would be best. East would be ok but you would have to watch out for frosts on the flowers. I wouldn't grow strawberries in a North facing border, but raspberries might be ok.
You can either fill your space this year or only plant a third of it this year, and fill the next two thirds with runners from the older plants in following years. The reason for this is that strawberries crop for about three years before needing replacing, fruiting best in their second year. This way you can keep them cropping.
The soil would ideally have some organic matter dug in, such as composted manure from the garden centre. When planting I use "root grow" which helps them to establish. Lots more information on Ken Muir's website.
They will need netting from birds, blackbirds absolutely adore them!

[chilli_grower]

THanks Wendy, I can tell you that this area of the garden gets full sun all day. It is indeed South facing.

I have some scaffold netting, that should do the trick.

What about plant spacing? Every foot or so????

[KevinM67]

THanks Wendy, I can tell you that this area of the garden gets full sun all day. It is indeed South facing.

I have some scaffold netting, that should do the trick.

What about plant spacing? Every foot or so????

I would personally using netting which has big enough holes to let pollinators in, but small enough to keep birds out.

I find the growing guides on here a great little help (situated just below the main banner).

I've put the link for strawberries below.

Growing Strawberries | How To Grow | Grow Your Own