The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Gardens => Topic started by: Allan on February 19, 2024, 10:47:36 pm
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Hi,
I've just taken on a new garden & it's got a few raised beds. I've now cleared them all out ready for planting - except for 2 that're planted with strawberries.
You can see from the pics below that they're in a sorry state, fair enough it is February. I'm just wondering if I need to do anything to help them grow & fruit this year?
Add compost (?on top of the dead leaves) or replant some new plants?
I know I've got to remove some weeds that're sharing the beds with the strawberries, but do I need to do much more than that or will they recover on their own?
There's loads of strawberry plants still with green leaves, but most of these are on the paths between the beds.
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I had the same problem last year. I took the whole lot out and planted the best of them and any good sized runners in pots for over the winter. I'm about to clear out a different raised bed that is easier for me to protect from birds and my dogs. When that's done I'll add more compost/soil and replant them. I've got chopped barley straw ready to spread round them to keep them clean, and netting on a frame to go over the top
Strawberries only last about three years anyway, so need to be renewed from runners or with new bought plants
At the very least, if you want to leave yours in situ, you need to take off all the dead leaves and stalks, remove runner baby plants and pot them up for next year, and add more compost round the ones left in place, and a mulch of straw under them
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Exactly as dogandjo said. But worth adding is when we moved here we potted some feeders which we then transplanted, taking out all the original plants which were clearly very old. Strange thing was we had hundreds of flowers on them but very little fruit and now thinking about it perhaps they were some kind of hybrid? On the basis of an uncertain result from the feeders I'd take everything out and put in new plants.