Fresh strawberries from your own garden are worth every effort. Anyone who is familiar with care and knows how to overwinter can harvest for several years in a row. We have put together the best tips for you.
How do you optimally care for strawberries in the garden?
To successfully care for strawberries in the garden, you should water daily, keep the soil moist, cut long runners and wilted plant parts, pull weeds, fertilize organically, mulch and protect fruit crops from rot. In winter you should cut the plants back, add nutrients and, if necessary, protect them from the cold.
The most important care aspects
If you give your strawberries attentive care after planting, you will be rewarded with a bountiful harvest of sugary fruits. Immediately after planting, the consistent care program begins with the following activities:
- water daily until the plants are established
- then keep the soil constantly moist
- cut off runners that are too long
- Cleaning up wilted plant parts
- Weed consistently, but do not hoe deeply
- fertilize regularly organically, preferably with compost
- mulching with leaves, bark mulch or straw
- Fruit covering with mulch film (€21.00 on Amazon), straw or wood wool underneath to prevent rotting
Although strawberry plants are hardy, their flowers sometimes fall victim to late frosts in May. To ensure that this shortcoming does not endanger this year's harvest, cover the strawberries in the garden with fleece or foil overnight. This precautionary measure should not end with the Ice Saints, but should be maintained until after the sheep's cold at the beginning of June.
This is how strawberry plants get through the winter well
As the harvest season draws to a close, experienced hobby gardeners take targeted measures to prepare for the next successful growing season. Unripe fruits and yellow leaves are all cut off with secateurs. In addition, all foothills must give way. Shorten each plant to a few centimeters. The heart bud, however, must not be touched because it is what matters next spring.
After the plants have been cut into shape, autumn fertilization begins. Now nutrients are needed that have a beneficial effect on winter hardiness. In addition to compost, potassium-rich materials are important, such as comfrey or ferns. Potassium strengthens cell walls and lowers the freezing point within the strawberry plant. In rough locations, a layer of straw or pine fronds also provides adequate protection from the cold.
Tips & Tricks
Don't feel like the hassle of pulling weeds? Then plant Vescana strawberries in the garden, a hardy cross between garden and wild strawberries. These strawberries also act as ground cover and are hardy. They form such a dense carpet that weeds hardly have a chance here.
