How to Grow Strawberries - Once Tasted You'll Never by Supermarket One's Again

If you’ve ever dreamed of skipping through your garden, wicker basket in hand, plucking sun-warmed strawberries like you’re in a bucolic advert for organic yogurt, then congratulations - you are exactly the sort of person who should try growing strawberries. And if you’ve ever bought supermarket strawberries in mid-winter and wondered why they taste like damp cotton wool rolled in disappointment, then you are definitely the sort of person who should try growing strawberries.

Growing your own is easy, delightful, and only mildly addictive. They’re charming, productive, and only slightly inclined to wander off when you’re not paying attention. Whether you're gardening in a spacious allotment or a windowsill that doubles as a cat observation platform, you can grow strawberries successfully - and have a laugh along the way.

Let’s begin our red-fruity odyssey.

Get To Know Your Strawberry - (Because Not All Strawberries Are Created Equal)

Firstly lets sort out a myth, Strawberries are NOT berries but are fruit - now that's settled lets crack on.

Strawberries come in three broad types: early summer, mid-season, and late fruiting. Think of them like this - early varieties are the energetic overachievers which show their hand early on and burn out a bit later, mid-season types are the dependable ones holding everything together, and late varieties are the ones who stroll in at the end of the season in a last fanfare of red juicy delights.

If you want a long picking season, plant a mix. If you're the type who likes instant gratification, go heavy on early varieties. And if you're the kind who says, “I don’t mind waiting,” then congratulations - you’re lying, because everyone wants strawberries as early as possible.

You may also encounter everbearing or perpetual strawberries, which simply means you’ll get smaller but more frequent harvests from summer through autumn. These are perfect for people who like a steady supply rather than one glorious, strawberry tsunami.

Where to Put Them - Besides In Your Mouth...

Strawberries love sunshine. Proper sunshine. Give them at least six hours of direct sunlight if you can. If that means moving the patio furniture, the barbecue, or your mother-in-law’s favourite ornamental urn, then so be it. Strawberries come first.

A well-drained spot is essential. Strawberries do not appreciate wet feet. They are divas in that respect. If your soil tends toward swamp-like, plant them in raised beds, containers, or even hanging baskets. 

Grow bags also work brilliantly - you can even buy special strawberry grow bags with little pockets, which make your garden look like it’s sprouting fruit-filled handbags.

Just avoid planting them where tomatoes, peppers, aubergines or potatoes were grown in the last few years. Strawberries and solanums do not get along - think of it as an unspoken horticultural feud. In reality its because they share common pests and diseases like Verticillium wilt which no one wants...

Soil - The most Important Bit

Strawberries like fertile, slightly acidic soil - think pH 5.5–6.5. You do not need a chemistry degree to pull this off. If you’ve got decent garden compost, use that. If you haven’t, now is an excellent time to start pretending you planned to make a compost heap all along or get to know someone who has horses. Horse manure is like gold to a strawberry - they love the stuff. 

Multipurpose compost is
great for pots

Before planting, make sure the area is weed free and clear of debris, dig over incorporating some organic matter - a 2-3" layer dug in will give them a great start. This not only feeds the plants but also feeds the soil whilst giving you a marvellous sense of having done something earthy and virtuous. Raised beds are especially good because you can fill them with the exact soil mix you want without excavating half your lawn.

If you are planting in pots the a good quality multipurpose compost is great. I suggest a compost mix of composted bark, sand, soil (good for water holding when its hot) and composted green waste. 

Planting - A Really Important Bit

Planting strawberries has one golden rule: don’t bury the crown. The crown is the little knobbly bit where the leaves emerge. If it sits too low and ends up buried, the plant sulks, rots, and dies in silent strawberry misery. If it sits too high, the roots dry out. So plant them so the crown is level with the soil surface. 

Space them roughly 14" apart. Yes, this seems generous, and no, you don’t need to squeeze them closer “just to see what happens.” What happens is mildew and a heavily congested strawberry patch which will inhibit fruiting.

Planting Steps:

1. Dig a hole for each plant a trowel rather than a spade should be suitable.

2. Set the crown level with the soil and gently firm in.

3. Space them about 14" apart, unless you’re planting them in pots, in which case put in fewer plants than you think you want. Trust me I'm right on this one.

4. Water them - don't soak.

5. Mulch with straw, wood chips, or compost or well rotted manure to help retain moisture and stop the fruits lying directly on soil where slugs wait like hungry goblins.

Watering: The Fine Line Between Love and Overbearing Parenting

Strawberries need consistent moisture, especially when flowering and fruiting, but they hate being waterlogged. The best strategy? Water at the base and avoid splashing the leaves. Strawberries do not enjoy sloppy baths. They prefer dignified, modest hydration.

Aim for morning watering if possible — evening watering is fine, but it does slightly increase the risk of slugs appearing like tiny, slimy critics come to judge your horticultural life choices.

Top Tip: If the top inch or two of soil is dry, water. If it’s wet, put the watering can down and back away slowly.

Feed Them - like children they need food..

If you've mulched with manure you can skip this bit but if not then use a high-potash feed once flowers appear. Tomato feed works beautifully and is probably already lurking in your shed next to that mysterious bag of half-set cement you definitely don’t remember buying. Adding liquid seaweed to the feeding regime works wonders for fruiting volumes and the taste.

Feeding boosts fruit size and flavour. You won’t suddenly grow strawberries the size of cricket balls (though imagine the jam possibilities), but you’ll certainly get plumper, juicier fruit.

Protecting Your Crop From the Forces of Evil

Birds and squirrels love strawberries even more than you do. To them, a ripening strawberry is simply a red, juicy “free sample”. Netting your plants is essential unless you wish to run a neighbourhood wildlife buffet.

But do use proper fruit netting, not that terrifying plastic stuff that tangles wildlife. A simple frame of canes with mesh draped over works well. Alternatively, embrace a polytunnel or mini-grow tunnel — essentially a posh plastic tent for your fruit.

Slugs are another enemy. You can try beer traps, wool pellets, copper tape, or the highly therapeutic late-evening slug hunt with a torch. Just remember: strawberries are worth fighting for.

Mother and baby

Runners - What to Do When Your Plants Try to Reproduce Enthusiastically

A runner with
washed roots

 Strawberries love sending out runners - long   stem like umbilical cords with baby plants at   the end - usually during mid summer. If   you’re growing in containers or prefer   neatness, clip most of them off. Each runner takes energy away from fruit production. But each runner is a new plant so they're handy if you want to plant more Strawberries or replace the older ones you've got as they do burn themselves out.

But if you want free plants (and who doesn’t?), peg down a few runners either into pots of compost or on the ground and let them root - see video below. Suddenly you have more strawberry plants without spending a penny. It’s like horticultural cloning, but far less morally complicated. 

Harvest Time - Its So Worth The Wait

Pick strawberries when they are fully red. Not pink. Not “nearly there.” Fully red and smell like a real proper strawberry. They do not ripen very well after picking.

Harvest gently by pinching the stalk rather than yanking the fruit. They bruise very easily. If you tug, you risk pulling up half the plant and uttering words that echo across the neighbourhood.

Eat them immediately for maximum flavour. You can store them in the fridge, but really, why would you? They’re strawberries. They deserve to be eaten with enthusiasm and possibly whipped cream.

End-of-Season Aftercare - This Is Incredibly Important

Strawberry beds stay productive for about three years before declining into leafy mediocrity. To keep yields high, tidy your plants  and do a refresh of the bed every few seasons and replace older plants (more than 3 years old) with new ones grown from runners.

After fruiting, trim off tatty foliage, tidy up, and give the plants a light feed. Imagine you’re tucking them in for a well-earned nap.

Growing strawberries is one of the most satisfying garden projects you can take on. They’re easy, rewarding, and delicious, and even when things go wrong, you’ll still likely get a handful of fruit - unlike, say, Aubergines, which will punish you for every meteorological micro-error.

Follow these steps and soon you’ll be lounging in the garden, bowl in hand, eating strawberries you grew yourself - fruits so tasty you’ll briefly believe you’re living in a gardening documentary narrated by TV celeb.

And if you find yourself growing more strawberries every year, rearranging beds, buying special strawberry planters, and researching heritage varieties at 2am… don’t worry. That’s not obsession.

That’s just good gardening. 🍓

Blog 22/11/2025 Gardening by Geoff.-  horshamgardener.blogspot.com

All information contained in this blog and all the others is purely the opinion of the author and should be taken with advisement. please read the legal disclaimer.  https://horshamgardener.blogspot.com/2025/12/sorry-boring-legal-stuff-updated.html