I am planting a strawberry bed in early June, approximately 200 square feet that is currently bare soil. Should I just mulch it with straw and wait, or is there a cover crop that matures within 8 weeks and can be worked into the soil before planting? I wish I had done a better job planning last year, but here I am now with a bare bed that will soon be covered with weeds. Last year the area was covered with garlic mustard.
id just fork in some compost then cover with black plastic. that will germinate then kill any weed seeds in there then make x cuts every 12in and plant your berries when you get them. id put down a few inches of straw to keep your berries from laying on the plastic and rotting.
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You could put them in right now. Why wait that long? I am weeding my strawberry garden which will take me 3 days and been in this same spot for over 5 years.
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I tried creating a strawberry bed in the same spot a few years ago in early spring but the squirrels dug up and destroyed all the crowns. I am hoping by waiting until late spring to plant the squirrels will be less active and will have many other plants to choose from. Maybe they will leave the strawberries alone this time. With this plan in mind, I chose the June 6th ship date from the nursery, so now I have no choice but to wait until then to plant.
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I’m leaning towards not using black plastic. I like that it would kill the weeds, but I want to be able to easily top dress the soil, fertilize the plants, and root runners. Wouldn’t the black plastic make those tasks more difficult? I don’t mind weeding a few times throughout the growing season, if necessary.
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I have prepped strawberry beds… got it worked up good, compost mixed in … organic fertilizer added… raked it smooth and covered with a couple inches of mini pine bark nugget mulch.
Then when the strawberry plants arrived… planted them. You can easily move the mulch back a bit… plant the crown the move the mulch back in place around the crown.
I have never used plastic… but have used mini pine bark nuggets on several strawberry beds over the years and like it.
Our Lowes has regular pine bark nuggets (rather large pieces) and then the mini nuggets. 3 CF bags… I have used both on strawberry beds… but prefer the mini.
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it actually makes your job easier. it holds in moisture. prevents weeds. it controls how many runners root. without it you spend your time cutting runners and pulling out ones that you miss. this way you plant your 1st ones every 12in. then put a x every 6in. in between the mother plants and select 1 runner to start there. the next spring you remove the original mother. put some compost/ slow release fertilizer in the hole and take a runner of 1 of the 2nd mothers runners to root in that hole. the other extra runners i use to start a new bed , give away or if your lazy like me you just let them root in the lawn on the edge of the bed where the mower controls where they can spread. once every 6 yrs. or when the plastic starts to degrade, i remove the plastic after harvesting the runners. give it a good till with added compost/ amendments, then replace the plastic and replant the runners. you never have to buy plants again this way and slugs aren’t a issue as the plastic get too hot for them to cross on. as least that’s my opinion. ive done it the other way and its back breaking work to the point i wanted to give up. a trip to a u pick berry farm and talking to the owner gave me this idea. he has 10 acres of strawberries planted this way. he only uses slow release fertilizers in the hole and they grow great because there is no competition from weeds. also alot less people stepping on the plants as you can see them better. he takes the oat straw from his fields and spreads it over the berries with a mulch sprayer once the berries start to form. the plants grow through this easily and it also covers in between the beds to keep weeds and mud down. his fields are picture perfect. very impressive!
i too prefer natural mulch but the plastic lasts about 6 yrs and i can cover the rows quickly. also it warms the soil up and turbo charges growth. why our growing season is so short as it takes a long time to get our soil to 50+ deg here. for your temps i too would use the bark nuggets or some coarse woodchips. it also adds organic matter over time lessening the need to fertilize as much and helps keep your roots cooler in summer. what types of strawberry do you grow? i got evie 2 and mara des bois everbearing and archer, galetta and ac wendy junebearing. archers are huge yet taste the best next to mara des bois.
Thanks for the info Steve. You are starting to convince me to give it a try. At the moment I do not have drip irrigation setup. Would that be required if I use the black plastic? Where do you buy the plastic? Local farm and garden center, or is there a good online source?
@steveb4 … i have or had… sure crop and eversweet… and some seascape. I have been very happy with SC and ES… did not see much from seascape. The last 2 or 3 years is the only time i have tried those varieties.
Surecrop made some nice sized very good berries… ripened mostly in the month of may here. Seascape are everbearing… and for the first 3 years… proved to be more of an everbearer than i have ever had. They started ripening early may… and produced berries thru the heat of summer (90-100) even… and continued until October or later. They were mostly smaller berries, tasted good… were steady producers but not really heavy producers.
But we had that 3F just b4 Christmas and many of my strawberries died. We had 3F with no snow… no coverage… some of mine survived and some did not.
I have had many strawberry beds in the past… have grown ozark beauty and gurnies giant in the same bed and man that was sure an awesome bed of strawberries for 3-4 years.
I cant even remember all the varieties I have tried. Quinalt ?
Since many died this winter… i have a new bed prepped and 25 early glow ordered… starting another new bed and trying a variety i have not tried before. Some here have recommended early glow… will see how they do here.
when you plant in the x’s make sure you plant them deep enough to make a crater so when it rains it will go in the hole. ive rarely had to water with plastic as it holds in moisture very well. i dont know why i didnt think of this years ago as this was how my father grew his cucumber mounds. you’re warmer than me so i would cover the plastic with some chopped straw after planting to keep them from cooking. i think i got my plastic on amazon, lowes or at walmart. make sure its the heavy thick one with high uv resistance. they also have a heavy duty weaved poly cloth that works just as good and breathes a little. ive used that as well with good results though some weed seeds do manage to grow sometimes on it. either one will do. i get the 6ft wide rolls and bury 1ft. on either side with some wire staples every 2ft. raised beds id roll up the excess and use staples to hold. good luck!