11 Tips For Growing Strawberries in Raised Beds

Want to grow strawberries on raised garden beds this season but don't know where to start? Are raised beds useful for strawberry cultivation? Logan Hailey, an organic gardening expert, shares her top strawberry growing ideas for raised garden beds this season.  

1. Start With a Quality Raised Bed

Most strawberries need 1 square foot per plant and a 10-12” root zone, so choose your raised bed accordingly. Your materials should also be non-toxic, durable, and attractive for your landscape.  

2. Place Your Bed in Full Sunlight

Try Google Earth satellite photos to determine your yard's light angle and plant strawberries. Although strawberries are short-lived perennials, beds last. For optimal sunlight and crop diversity, raised garden beds should face north-south.  

3. Fill With Well-Drained Loamy Soil  

Raised garden beds are great since you can choose the soil. If you have hard clay soil or a compacted yard, raised garden beds provide the ideal growing medium without affecting the natural soil.  

4. Choose The Right Variety

Dozens of strawberry types are tailored to diverse temperatures and growing conditions. Varieties fall into three categories: June, Ever, or Day-Neutral.  

5. Pinch The First Flowers in Spring

You want super early berries, but nip off the early blooms to help the plant concentrate on rooting. After 2-3 weeks of robust plant growth and flower pinching (usually in early May), strawberries can flourish and ripen.   

6. Prune Off All Runners

Strawberry mats can form unintentionally. Groundcover benefits from this, but raised bed yields suffer. Extra effort to prune strawberry runners yields more luscious berries.  

7. Don’t Overcrowd Your Beds

Overcrowding raised beds is another mistake beginners make. Bare root strawberry crowns or plugs look little when planted, but they need lots of area to thrive.

8. Use Companion Plant

Companion planting, a typical organic gardening strategy, increases biodiversity in raised beds. Strawberry-friendly plants boost growth, attract pollinators, and deter pests.  

9. Keep Garden Beds Weed-Free

Strawberry plants must be weeded to avoid water and nutrient competition. Slugs, worms, and voles may hide under low-growing weeds. Tall weeds shade strawberries and block ventilation, causing illness.  

10. Keep Your Berries Off The Soil

Supressing weeds Keeps fruit dry and dirt-free Helps find and pick berries Saves moisture in upper soil layer and cools strawberry root zones on hot days. Helps strawberries survive chilly nights  

11. Don’t Use Overhead Sprinkler

Strawberry leaf disease can result from overhead irrigation. Sprinklers promote weeds. Sprinklers can flood bed sides and accelerate decay. Overhead irrigation wastes water and speeds soil drying.  

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