Strawberries

More than a few home gardeners come to the conclusion that strawberries require greater care than the results warrant. It is, no doubt, the ultimate sensual luxury of sinking the teeth into those fully ripe, sun-warm, luscious red orbs, straight from plant to mouth, that keeps many of us in the strawberry battlefield.

Varieties

The different types of strawberry, with their varying harvest periods, represent a source of some confusion among home gardeners.

Most familiar are the June bearers, the standard home garden strawberry for the past 150 years. Varieties include Totem, Kent, and Hood. Greatly affected by day length and temperature, these plants are triggered by the long, warm days in late spring into producing runners and a single big crop of berries, from buds formed during the cool temperatures and short days of the previous late summer.

Everbearing, or fall-bearing, strawberries are a newer type, less sensitive to day length and temperature than June bearers. They yield the usual spring berries as well as summer flowers that bring a fall crop from late summer until frost. Fort Laramie is an example of an everbearer.

The newest type of strawberry is the day neutral, which grows flowerbuds all season regardless of day length. The results: a large June crop followed by a short rest and then more strawberries until frost. Tristar and Hecker are day neutral strawberries.

A fourth type is the seed-grown alpine strawberry, which is runnerless. It produces small, neat bushes with an abundance of tiny berries that are a toothsome in-garden treat.

Planting Strawberries

Like many plants with a growing point, called a crown, between roots and stems, strawberries are a tad finicky about their planting depth. When planting a strawberry, note carefully that area from which new growth is emerging. The base of that crown should end up being just barely covered with soil. Planting too deep and burying the crown will smother the plant; a strawberry plant set too high will dry out easily. The primrose is another commonly grown example of a plant with a crown needing a similar planting depth.

Culture

The keys to rewarding strawberry culture are a warm, sunny site and a rich, loose, well-drained soil. Raised beds are excellent for strawberries. Setting the plants 18 to 24 inches (45 to 60 cm) apart allows for in-filling of the bed with selected runners.

Cut away runners that are in excess or that are wandering beyond the desired bounds of the bed. If you see that certain plants are outstanding in their yields of superlative berries, mark them as prime sources of runners so that their good habits can spread through the bed.

In the fall or very early spring, thin the plants to allow about four inches (10 cm) of space between them. When thinning an established bed, take out the oldest plants. They will be the ones with the thickest necks. Strawberry plants generally produce well for about three years.