Strawberry fields

LOOKING across the bare vegetable plot over the winter months, it’s hard to image that it will be transformed from a sea of brown with glimpses of green, into a lush expanse of textured green with hints of brown. This incredible transformation spurs my enthusiasm during the short glum winter days and I long for what spring has to offer; opportunity and abundance. One luxury to prepare for, where taste cannot be surpassed unless you grow your own, are strawberries.

Strawberries belong in the Rosaceae family with around 20 species. The botanical name for the cultivated summer strawberry is Fragaria x ananassa where Fragaria is derived from the Latin word ‘Fraga’ or ‘Fragans’ meaning sweet smelling and ananassa is derived from the Latin word ‘ananas’ meaning pineapple, in reference to the strawberry fruit having a resemblance to the pineapple plant in shape and smell. The Fragaria x ananassa hybrid was developed in Europe sometime in the 18th Century.

The strawberry plant is a low growing self-fertile herbaceous perennial that propagates itself from short horizontal stems called runners. They are relatively easy to grow providing good preparation is done beforehand and the fruits are harvested from early to mid-summer dependant on variety.

Strawberries require fertile, well-drained soil that has had well-rotted manure incorporated and full sun, but can tolerate partial shade in warmer climates. Plants will benefit from slow release phosphates such as bone meal and monthly seaweed feeds will increase overall plant health. Regular fortnightly feeds of high potash will also increase flower and fruit production however some evidence suggests this feeding will allow plants to outgrow resources available in the soil and the plants may suffer overall as a consequence. At home I feed the ground through preparation and not the plant during the growing season.

Strawberries can be started off by seed, but often produces poor results. Most gardeners now buy certified disease-free plants from garden nurseries. Runners are produced in abundance during the growing season, which can be propagated by pinning to the ground or in a pot of compost helping the runner establish its own root system. In late summer or early autumn the runners can be cut from the parent plant and replanted. This will give them time to establish before the following season and should give a healthy crop. Late autumn or spring plantings should be deflowered in the first summer to allow them to crop heavily the following year.

Strawberries are prone to viral diseases and become unproductive after three to four years. In order to always have a healthy crop year on year, it is good practice to replace a quarter or third of the plants each year. Do not replace old plants with new plants in the same spot, and give the ground at least three years' rest before planting more strawberries as viral diseases can linger.

Recommended plant spacing varies, but usually lies between 45cm-60cm. If you have room, space plants around 60cm apart in rows or blocks, this way your strawberries will have access to more nutrients and in turn higher yields.

The biggest problems that strawberries face are birds eating the fruits, and mould. Netting strawberries before the fruits ripen will protect them from foragers including opportunist humans in public gardens! Placing straw around the plants with the berries on top as they begin to swell can combat mould build-up. Once strawberries have fruited, tidy them up by removing old leaves, fruited stems and straw from around the plant.

Some good varieties to try include ‘Florence’, a late variety with good disease resistance, ‘Elsanta’, a mid-season variety most used commercially with excellent flavour and ‘Symphony’ a late Scottish variety that is, as you can guess, a hardy variety with good disease resistance.

Strawberries can be grown in containers, however the restricted root run and water holding capacity make these poor growing conditions. To ensure healthy container grown strawberries, frequent feeding and watering is required ideally from drip irrigation. Harlow Carr Gardens in Harrogate is conducting a trial that will be assessing the best varieties of strawberries to grow in containers. The trial will be on display for the public from June.