Making a strawberry bed?

[Bramble Lover]

Well we have managed to get most of our new allotment dug over.....( I say new.....we got it in May)......and have one raised border where spring onions and salads are nearly finished.

We have decided that we shall use this as our strawberry area but not sure how to go about it.

We have two plants which someone gave us at the beginning of the season which look really healthy.

Obviously we need lots more plants but when is best to plant these out?

Do we put them in now? or do we wait while spring?

Should we do anything specific to the ground before planting out?

Questions questions.......awaiting gratefully for some answers.

[nick the grief]

If you put them in now there is still enough warmth for them to establish before winter sets in. If you can get hold of some well rotted muck & dig this in they'll appreciate it.

You may be able to get some more runners & get them planted before winter to finish the bed off.

If you can get hold of some Mypex ground cover you could put this down & plant through that & it will help suppress the weeds & stop the fruits getting dirty as well. The traditional way is to use straw, but I always find you end up with loads of the wheat seed germinating & then you have too sort all that out - I haven't got time for that !

[Getoffmylande]

if you get the strawberries in now you may get some runners from them and you could give them a good clip as well. Wait till the plants look like they have taken though before the haircut' Last spring we brought a dozen good quality plants for £1 each and with all the runners that we have got next years bed contains just under 70 plants. just another bit of info though if you are taking the runners from parents don't get too greedy, most books say only peg about 5 of the runners to grow as new plants.

[Silverfox]

it is also recommended to throw plants every 3 years so try and keep them where you may know how old they are.