How to Grow Strawberries: A Beginner’s Guide
If you’re looking for a great beginner fruit to grow, look no further than strawberries. They are one of the most rewarding fruits to grow in your home garden—their juicy, sun-ripened sweetness is unmatched by store-bought berries—and they’re surprisingly easy to grow! Plus, the kids love them! Once you understand a few basics, your strawberry plant will be bursting with abundance. Whether you're planting in a raised bed, containers, or along a garden border, strawberries bring beauty, flavour, and health benefits to your garden space!
Start with the Right Strawberry Type
Did you know there’s different varieties of strawberries? Believe it or not, there are three main types of strawberries to choose from:
June-Bearing: Produce one large crop in early summer.
Ever-Bearing: Produce two smaller harvests—one in early summer and another in early fall.
Day-Neutral: Produce fruit throughout the growing season as long as temperatures are right.
For beginner gardeners, every-bearing varieties are often the easiest and most popular to find.
When to Start Strawberry Seeds or Plants
Strawberries can be grown from seed, but they are more commonly started from bare-root crowns or young plants, which are quicker to establish and bear fruit, making it an easier option for beginner gardeners.
Starting from Seed: Begin indoors 8–10 weeks before your last expected spring frost. Germination can be slow, and requires patience—up to 3 weeks or more—so keep this in mind!
Planting Crowns or Young Plants: The best time to plant crowns or young plants is early spring (mid spring is ok too!), as soon as the soil can be worked and the risk of hard frost has passed. In warmer regions, fall planting is also an option! You can plant 30-60 days before your first expected frost date to ensure they establish before the cold hits.
How to Plant and Care for Strawberries
When selecting a spot to plant your strawberries, keep in mind that strawberry plants thrive in full sun (6–8 hours per day) and rich, well-drained soil!
Planting Tips:
Space plants about 12 inches apart.
For crowns, plant so the crown sits just above the soil line—too deep and they may rot, too shallow and they’ll dry out.
Mulch with seedless straw to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and protect fruit from touching the soil.
Watering: Keep soil consistently moist but not soggy. Water at the base to avoid wetting leaves, which can lead to disease! I tend to water in the summer months once a day on a drip system for 15-20 minutes. I use Garden in Minutes grid irrigation to ensure my strawberry plants are watered with the perfect amount, daily!
Feeding: Fertilize with a balanced organic fertilizer when planting, and again after the first fruiting to encourage more blooms (where the berries come from!).
Maintenance: Pinch off the first flowers of the season to encourage strong root development, especially in the first year. The first year I remove runners (the long stems that produce baby plants) to ensure the plant establishes. You can keep them to make more plants!
Harvesting Strawberries
Strawberries are ready to harvest when they're fully red, firm, and aromatic. Pick every couple of days during peak ripening to stay ahead of birds and slugs! Harvest your strawberries by gently twisting the berry off with the green cap attached.
Benefits of Strawberries in the Garden
Pollinator-Friendly: Strawberry flowers attract bees and other beneficial insects to your garden.
Edible Ground Cover: Especially in raised beds or small spaces, strawberries make a beautiful, low-growing ground cover that helps shade out weeds. Plant Alpine strawberries which do not produce runners as a border in your landscape plan!
Easy to Propagate: Runners make it easy to grow new plants each year! It’s a plant that keeps on giving. I save runners to create a continuous strawberry patch as everbearing strawberry plants last 4-5 years only and need to be replaced.
Health Benefits of Strawberries
Strawberries aren't just delicious, they’re packed with nutrients too. I love making a strawberry spritz in the summer time.
Here’s a few health benefits that you can enjoy along with the tasty flavour of strawberries:
Rich in Vitamin C: Just one cup provides over 100% of your daily needs!
High in Antioxidants: Strawberries are full of powerful plant compounds that help fight inflammation and support heart health.
Low in Sugar: Despite their sweetness, strawberries are low on the glycemic index and perfect for a balanced diet.
Growing strawberries is a fun and fruitful project that pays off quickly, and if you have kids, I promise you that they will love going out to the garden and harvesting strawberries… the question is, will they make it inside? With just a little attention and care, you can enjoy homegrown berries right from your backyard, deck, or even a sunny windowsill. Whether you're a first-timer or levelling up your garden, strawberries are a sweet place to start.
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