Growing strawberries

We are in the process of re-doing our land in the back of our house now that we have our design plans. The design plans called for us to move our garden beds (raised beds) so we've done that (boy was that a task! ) and now I have more room to garden other things that we've wanted to grow. Strawberries being one of them. I bought 12 strawberry plants yesterday to grow in a 4x4 square garden bed. It will be a 6 x 6 bed once we get the stone placed around the beds, right now they are wood. ANYWAYS I guess what I'm wanting to know is how the heck to grow strawberries, care for them, etc. Help!

Dh and I were talking about it last night and I seem to recall putting straw around them but not sure when to do that. We kinda jumped right in without knowing what to do.

When we go to the strawberry patch to pick strawberries I don't remember there being anything special around them. Did you google it? Or maybe talk to the nursery where you will purchase the plants. Is it too late too plant them? I was thinking they had to be picked by early summer. Then again, most things do in Texas. Not sure how it is there.

I wish I could have a garden. I'm going to try to grow some tomatoes somewhere around here this year.

Sorry, just saw where you said you already purchased the plants.

This post has been edited by Maddie&EthansMom on May 6 2008, 06:22 AM

I haven't grown them, but my neighbor just has hers in a barrell, nothing special.

Yeah, I didn't think to ask the nursery yesterday. Usually strawberries will not produce fruit the first year planted. So I do not expect any strawberries until next year. I will have to google it or ask my aunt. She used to grow tons of them.

Aimee, if you want to grow items, but don't have room for a garden, try planter gardening. You can grow a lot of stuff in them. We've grown tomatoes, lettuce, and many more things in the past. This year we are growing a kiwi plant in a planter. We'll see if we do a good enough job to produce kiwi or not.
It is definitely nice to go in the back yard and pick what you want to use for dinners, etc.

It's the shade. We have too many trees and too much shade. Which is nice in the hot TX summers, but at the same time, I can't get enough sun to plant the flowers I love or grow a garden. One of these days I will have plenty of land to do what I like.

I know nothing about gardening. I didn't think about them not producing fruit right away.

Ahh, I see. That makes sense. Yeah, having the acreage we do gives us lots of opportunities to do many things we want. BUT it also makes for a lot of work. Just trying to find 3+ hours to mow the land without kids wanting you to stop all the time is .

I really don't know anything about gardening, either. I go with the trial and error method.

Plant on a mound so they have good drainage. Always leave the crown just above the surface otherwise the plant will rot. Don't allow too many runners. It’s best to pinch off some runners so the plant can get a good root system going.

Ok, you've officially scared the heck out of me. I have no clue what you said, but it appears I really need to read up on this before planting them. I mentioned to DH last night what you posted and he said "nah, just slap them into the ground and we'll see what happens".

I planted a garden and had some strawberries and apparently I dont something wrong cause they never grew.

I love strawberries but I am afraid to grow them. I don't know much about them and how you grow them but what I know is that strawberries loves a place to grow which is cold.

You really just need to pile up the dirt and then bury them in each little mound you build up and they will do fine. THey are suppose to multiply and come back more and more with more fruit each year. I know they can get crazy and out of control. We have ours planted in a big tractor tire. But if they are in an open area they will jsut keep spreading and gowing. They are easy just lots of water and shade and sun. You can do it!