Pat Munts: Growing strawberries easy with preparation

It is heartening to see bins of fresh strawberry plants in the nurseries right now. This means by mid-June, gardeners should be eating fresh, sweet-tart berries. My favorite method is to take the carton of whipping cream, a spoon and a bowl straight into the garden and eat until I run out of berries or cream. After all this only happens once a year; the calories are minuscule in the bigger scheme of things.

Growing strawberries is not difficult but it does take some bed preparation and then timely management of weeds and birds. Strawberries need a sunny location for maximum production; shade reduces the number of flowers, which reduces berry formation. They need a soil rich in organic matter but that drains quickly when it is wet. Many gardeners build a 2- to 3-foot-wide, low-mounded row of weed-free soil as a planting bed. This improves drainage and also allows the soil to warm more quickly in the spring. A good soil mix should contain about a third of its volume in compost and be as free of weeds as possible.

The prepared bed is then covered with a 3- to 4-inch layer of fine mulch or weed-block fabric to prevent weeds from coming up. If you use the fabric you will need to cut slits in it and then plant through it. Once the plants are established they send out runners in every direction that then anchor themselves to the soil. If you use weed fabric, you will have to cut another set of slits and anchor the tip of the runner into the soil. This method of growing is referred to as the matted row and is the preferred method if you want enough berries to make jam.

Strawberries can easily be grown in pots and other containers on sunny decks. Use 12-inch or larger containers so the runners have room to spread out. The soil can be any quality potting mix without any additional amendments. Plant the starts in a circle around the pot.

Plants are easy to find this time of year either as bunches of bare root stock or as individual starts in small pots. Bare root plants should look fresh with green growing tips and moist roots stored in damp wood shavings. If the roots are out in the open air without protection, don’t bother purchasing them. Water potted plants well and keep any plants moist until you plant them.

There are two types of strawberry plants, June-bearing and everbearing. The June-bearing plants will produce a single large crop in June to early July and then quit as the summer solstice passes and the days shorten. Everbearing, or day-neutral strawberries, will start producing in June with a medium crop and then continue to produce smaller quantities until the fall. Whichever type you prefer, buy your plants from local sources as they will have varieties that will do well here.