Are you looking to give your strawberry patch a boost this spring? Or is your strawberry patch out of control and you don’t know how to maintain it! Follow my 5 simple steps that I take each spring to maintain and prepare our own strawberry patch in the spring for an abundant harvest year after year!
1. Clear Debris
In the fall I like to put my strawberry patch to bed, you can read all about that here. When spring comes around it is time to uncover the straw mulch so the strawberries can start growing again.
I typically start cleaning and preparing our strawberry patch around the end of April after the snow has melted and all risk of a hard frost is over.
You don’t want to wait too long to remove the winter mulch once the temperature start to rise as you run the risk or mildew growth.
If you had a really bad pest problem in the previous year like it did, I suggest removing as much old mulch and leaves as possible. This will help remove any overwintered eggs that can become a problem in the future.
2. Prune
After you have cleared out as much debris and old winter mulch as possible it is time to prune your strawberries. This is when you remove the runners from the mother plant to the new rooted plants. I like to start on one side of the patch and work through each mother plant one at a time.
While you are removing the old runners, look for any plants or leaves that look diseased or dead, pull and remove those too.
3. Fertilize
After pruning, lay down a quick dusting of organic fertilizer such as Gaia Green, Power Bloom and water in. This is an organic flower fertilizer but I love using it early spring to give all of my fruit plants/bushes and flowers a good boost!
After two weeks from when I fertilized with Power Bloom, I like to go in once a week with a fish emulsion mixed in with water.
4. Add Compost
Before the final step of mulching, add a layer of compost for added nutrients. I personally like to use a mix of black earth and organic sheep compost from my local garden centre.
5. Mulch
Finally, it is time to mulch. Most years I like to use straw, but this year I am testing out a deep pine mulch. I am hoping this will deter pests, so we don’t end up with half eaten strawberries! I will let you know!
But basically for this step you want to make sure your stawberries have something to lay on so they stay off of the bare dirt. Anything from leaves, straw, or pine will work! It also helps maintain the moisture levels in the soil.
Those are the simple steps I take each spring to prepare our strawberry patch for an abundant harvest!