Growing Strawberries - Top 10 Tips

If ever there was a simple fruit to grow for yourself it is the strawberry. What's more, the strawberry fruit is one of the most delicious in the garden and should definitely taste better than the ones you buy from the supermarket. strawberries you buy in the supermarket have usually travelled a long way. For example most of the strawberries found in UK supermarkets have come from places like the Canary Islands. Strawberries do not travel very well and their flavour gets sapped. What better excuse for growing them yourself.

There are three types of strawberry. The ones in the shops are generally from Summer bearing varieties. Summer bearing strawberries have a very short crop period of about 3 to 4 weeks in the Summer.

There is also a type of strawberry known as the perpetual bearing variety. This will bear usually three separate lots of fruit which will mean crops throughout the Summer.

There is also a particularly hardy type of strawberry known as the alpine strawberry.

Here are some top tips for growing strawberries of you very own:

1 - you will get the best flavour from your strawberries if they are grown in sunny positions

2 - strawberries like to have room to breathe so to speak. Give them at least a foot of depth in the soil and at least 8 inches between each row of plants.

3 - strawberries don't like to be waterlogged. They will rot easily in these conditions so ensure your soil drains well.

4 - one of the best places you can grow strawberries is in raised beds as you have more control over the environment.

5 - try and grow your strawberries in locations that benefit from long sunny days and cool nights

6 - one of the strawberry plants worst enemies is frost. The best crops will be found from plants planted in early September but if frost is going to be a problem then wait until mid April for Summer bearing strawberries. Perpetual bearing strawberries should be planted in mid April anyway

7 - avoid windy locations too as it makes it difficult for insects to pollinate the small flowers

8 - avoid growing strawberries on land that has previously been used to grow grass as wire worm will make short work of any strawberries before you get a chance to. You should also avoid growing strawberries in soil that has previously been used to grow egg plant, tomatoes, potatoes or peppers as this could cause a problem with verticillium wilt.

9 - we like the look of strawberries because of their bright colour and they look unusual because their seeds are on the outside of the fruit. This also means they are attractive to birds though, so avoid birds eating your strawberries by placing wire netting over them when the fruits start to form

10 - a great final tip is to surround the base of the plant with straw or plastic bin liners secured with stones when the fruits start to grow. As they get bigger the fruits will tend to get weighed down and will come to rest on the soil where they will start to rot. By the way if you use plastic bin liners or similar to avoid this situation, make sure you make holes in it to allow for drainage or your fruit will rot anyway.