Strawberries are named such because gardeners traditionally cover them in straw during the fall. The straw mulch both prevents weeds from growing in early spring and protect the delicate plants from cleaving through frozen soil.
Now is the time to put straw on your beds in central Ohio. I happened to score some free straw from Giant Eagle the other day (it had been used for a pumpkin display) so I knew it was time for strawberry maintenance.
strawberry bed before
First, I gently weeded and raked the strawberry bed. I rearranged some runners. These will be the young plants next year and I want them to grow in the bed where older plants are dying off. I found this confused white berry.
unripe strawberry in november?
Then I covered with a few inches of straw.
In the spring I’ll remove some of the straw so as to not smother the berries. Because I have a whole bale of straw, I covered the garlic beds and around perennial herbs too. Easy mulch!
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have you ever grown strawberries in pots? i started some this year at our apartment (as opposed to our communal garden which is at another couples house). im unsure what to do with the strawberries over the winter. i’ve already winterized the patch at the garden but what is a gal to do with the ones in pots?
I have not successfully grown strawberries in pots. I tried once but the pot was too small and they died before the fall.
My advice (confirmed by searching around the internets) is to overwinter them in a sheltered location like a garage or buried in the ground. Without some protection they will get too cold.