Strawberries on my allotment...

[nooby]

I have 4-5 rows of Strawberries on my new allotment that I recently took over. I have had to take out one row (see picture).

Could someone please advise what I need to do with them now? Will they definitely grow back? One of the guys on the allotment said not to do much, he was quite relaxed whereas another said to get rid of absolutely all of the weeds and all of the dead leaves.

The issue with the latter which might not be evident from the photos is that without damaging the plants it would be almost impossible to get to all of the weeds and all of the brown leaves.

Would it be acceptable to just gently scrape up what I can? And do I need to do anything else with them ahead of spring? Feeding etc...

Many thanks in advance.

[4Shoes]

Aye, they are both right... 1st lesson in gardening.

Might be a bit early.... Give it a couple weeks

Cut back leaves (or go over the top of them with a lawn mover at highest setting to collect the leaves). Remove runners and all weeds from between rows. Remove as much weeds from rows that are left, then any over crowded plant (Start with weak and diseased)
Bit of a feed with Blood Fish Bone

[nooby]

A LAWNMOWER????!!! As in cut off the tops or try and suck up the leaves??? The laid back guy pretty much said rake over the top but I thought he was mad so didn't mention it... Wont the plants be damaged?

And when you say remove the runner you mean pinch them off at the base?

Apologies for the questions... I have only grown a few hanging pots of strawberries before.

[veggiechicken]

You need to remove the dandelions and any other perennial weeds you can. Otherwise, they will swamp your strawberries.
Walk down the middle of the rows so that you can reach to weed and trim off the leaves. You have so many plants that sacrificing a few won't make much difference to your crop.
Snip through the "umbilical cord" that attaches the runner to the plant. You can dig up the rooted runners and replant them if you wish.

[Nicos]

That looks like my patch...but mine has a small bay tree ,blueberry and gooseberry bushes amongst them too(don't ask!)

Within the month I plan to cut off the dead leaves and trowel up any weeds.
Also cut off any runners, but often leave them in situ...replacing any old plants which look very woody.
When I accidentally pull up a plant I just stick it in a gap.

Survival of the fittest.
You don't want them overcrowded as that encourages disease.

You get used to tiptoeing your way through them....

In theory I know you should replace them all every few years or replant the babies and create a new nursery area each year....but I can't stand throwing away old plants.
well...Any plants really

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Nooby! you'll actually be surprised at how resilient strawberry plants are!

But my first plan of action would be like VC suggested, get rid of the perennial weed first n foremost, honestly if not, come when the weather starts to warm, these things will just take over!

[nooby]

Thank you everyone! I will get this done... Much Appreciated

[damian1225]

I'm going to make a strawberry patch this year using weed suppressing fabric and burning small holes in it so I have the option to keep weed fre(ish) and will have a netted cover over it to keep the birds off, then every year dig up half the plants and plant the runners to keep it fresh

[4Shoes]

A LAWNMOWER????!!! As in cut off the tops or try and suck up the leaves??? The laid back guy pretty much said rake over the top but I thought he was mad so didn't mention it... Wont the plants be damaged?

And when you say remove the runner you mean pinch them off at the base?

Apologies for the questions... I have only grown a few hanging pots of strawberries before.

A lawn mower at its very highest setting will\should cut off the dead leaves and suck them up (if you have one to hand). If they are planted on mounds to give added drainage, will not work and chop up your plants

Like everyone else says... tidy up patch, remove weeds, remove extra plants, top dress.

[MarkPelican]

I'm going to make a strawberry patch this year using weed suppressing fabric and burning small holes in it so I have the option to keep weed fre(ish) and will have a netted cover over it to keep the birds off, then every year dig up half the plants and plant the runners to keep it fresh

Two points:

1. Weed suppressant is a wonderful place for slugs to hide; and
2. I would have thought replacing the plants every other year is a bit too frequent and replanting strawberries in the same place isn't usually recommended (strawberry replant disease). I've got four beds 1,2 & 3 year plants and one used for sweetcorn to give the bed a year off.

[Normans Mum]

I always leave the leaves on my strawbs til end of Feb or even a bit later if it's very frosty as I find it protects the crown of the plant. You should just be able to pick them off as they will be 'crispy' and by doing it by hand, I find you can check each plant as you go. ��

[kiwiman]

Had a good crop last year, until it rained, then half the fruit went mouldy because the plants were too close together. I have removed every other plant so they are approx 600 mm ( 2 ft in old money) apart. I know It is far less plants but hopefully won't lose half the crop to mould. It also makes weeding a lot lot easier. So in my mind " less is more"

[nooby]

Me again! Just a quick follow on from my original post... It is snowing here, and seems like it will be heavy most of the week. I have now weeded, de-black leafed, dressed etc. Will the plants be ok? Should I have covered them?

Go on break it to me... They've had it haven't they???

[muck lover]

I always feel obliged to pot up Every. Single. Runner. Its exhausting I give them away of course and plant them up into baskets for polytunnel. That would be expensive if I was buying the plants in.



Doing this will mean your plants will need dumped afterwards but if they are free.....

[muck lover]

No Nooby - strawberry plants are tough tough plants and will survive very low temperatures. If frost gets the flower then that will certainly go black but the plant just produces more flowers. So they only need frost protection when the flowers are out and even then they will rebloom if frosted.