what to do with strawberry plants after harvest

Winter is only effectually the corner, and that ways it's time to starting time preparing and protecting your strawberry plants for a long winter's nap!

Whether you abound strawberries in the garden, raised beds, or pots and containers – they need protection from winter's fury. Not only for their survival, but for stiff growth and production next year also.

To get your strawberries to come back strong in the spring, information technology is important to put them to bed properly this fall.

But how you protect them correctly depends on two important factors.

The first is knowing which variety you lot grow – June bearing or everbearing? While the second depends on where and how you abound your strawberries – whether information technology be in a garden setting, raised bed, or in containers.

With that in mind, here is a in-depth look at how to properly protect your strawberry plants. No matter how or what variety you lot grow!

How To Prepare & Protect Strawberry Plants For Winter

Protecting June Bearing Strawberries

June begetting strawberries get their name from their intense production that most often occurs (depending where yous live) near or around the calendar month of June.

They are virtually always planted in garden settings or permanent raised beds, and rarely planted as a container constitute.

June bearing strawberries produce their entire ingather over a ii to three week period. Considering of this, their care is different from everbearing strawberries.

June bearing varieties produce all their crop at in one case. Because of this, they require different care than everbearing varieties of strawberry plants, both in the summer and to protect them for wintertime.

Once June bearing plants accept completed their fruiting cycle, they should exist cut and trimmed back. This usually takes identify in the calendar month of July.

Cutting dorsum plants after they have completed fruiting helps regenerate new growth for the following twelvemonth'south ingather. And by doing then in mid-summer, information technology also allows them enough time to abound a bit of foliage for winter protection.

June begetting strawberries should be cut dorsum in July after their harvest.

If y'all did not happen to cut back your plants this summer, whatever you lot exercise, don't cutting them back in the autumn!

It is far ameliorate at this point to simply leave their leafage in place. If non, they but tin't grow enough protection back to survive the freezing and thawing of wintertime, and near likely volition perish.

Fall Care for June Bearing Strawberry Plants

June begetting strawberry plants, even with their late flavor leaf growth, need to be mulched before the bitter cold of winter sets in.

Straw is ane of the all-time mulches for strawberry plants. It is loose enough to let h2o and air through, but keeps plants protected.

Information technology non only protects the strawberry plants from freezing plants out, but keeps competing weeds besides. Weeds that can steal nutrients and affect production levels adjacent year.

For mulching, harbinger, shredded leaves, and pine needles are all great options. Apply a few inches of mulch effectually and over tiptop of the plants, being careful not to smother them besides deep.

June bearing strawberries emerging from the mulch every bit jump arrives.

Avoid using whole leaves as they can meaty and snuff the oxygen from the plants below. Mulching should take place in late fall, as the plants become dormant and brainstorm to lose their leaves.

One last notation, as with all perennial plants, avert fertilizing in tardily autumn. The new growth that could result volition really put the plants in more danger of freezing out over winter. (See: Why Not To Fertilize Perennials In The Fall)

Protecting Everbearing Strawberries

Unlike June bearing strawberry varieties, everbearing strawberries produce their fruit all season long. They tin can grow in traditional garden settings, raised beds, and are also excellent choices for container plantings.

And how you abound your everbearing strawberry plants determines simply how yous need to protect them.

Protecting Bed Planted Everbearing Strawberries

Considering everbearing varieties produce all flavour long, they are never cut back. But even though they go along their foliage in-tact up until the first frost, they still need a scrap of protection to get them through winter.

Just as with the June bearing plants, garden or bed planted everbearing strawberries should get a few inches of straw or shredded leaves in late fall.

Bed planted everbearing strawberry plants still need to be mulched earlier winter.

Every bit the plants go into dormancy and their foliage begins to turn, it's fourth dimension to mulch! Again, harbinger, pine needles or shredded leaves a few inches deep is the best option for protecting the strawberry plants.

Protecting Everbearing Strawberries In Pots & Containers

Potted everbearing strawberry plants simply tin't protect their roots from freezing without a flake of extra insulating assist.

You really take two option when information technology comes to protecting potted strawberries – bringing them indoors, or digging the pots into the ground for wintertime.

Potted plants demand additional protection for their roots to keep from freezing out.

If yous have an open flowerbed or garden setting, you can dig out an area the size of the container. Then, simply "plant" the pot into the soil, and apply a few inches of mulch over top.

If that is non an choice, bring plants into a garage or basement that is absurd, merely does not freeze. When bringing into a garage setting, always place pots against an interior heated wall to help give them a scrap of extra protection.

There is no demand for additional mulch for plants brought indoors.

Here is to protecting your strawberry plants this winter. And to good for you plants and a big harvest next year! Happy Gardening – Jim and Mary.

For more on strawberries, see our How To Plant & Grow Strawberries

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Source: https://oldworldgardenfarms.com/2020/10/22/protect-strawberry-plants/

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