Great Plains Gardening
April 11, 2003
Before I get into my topic of the week, I’d like to mention a few more tips for April from the CSU gardener’s planning and planting guide.
"Turn your compost from last year. Use the ready compost to turn into your planting beds. Create piles of your clippings from the spring cleanup. These are essential to add during the growing season with the green matter. If the compost seems dry, soak it well."
"Concerning perennials/annuals: Divide perennials such as daylilies, phlox and daisies. Use a sharp knife or shovel blade to make a clean cut. Remove any plant matter that appears unhealthy. Don’t work the soil if it is wet because this can destroy the structure of the soil and your plants will not thrive. Look for early-season bedding plants (pansies and perennials) and shop early for best selection. Ask the grower if the plants have been hardened off (toughened against cold weather). To harden plants, place plants outdoors in the day and in a cold frame or other area that does not freeze during the night."
"Apply 2 to 3 inches of bark chips, shredded pole peelings or recycled wood products or other organic material under shrubs, trees and perennials. Keep the mulch away from the crown of the plant to prevent rot."
"Plant raspberries, strawberries, serviceberries, currants, gooseberries and jostaberries now. Protect these new plants if a late season snow occurs."
This leads me up to my topic this week: Strawberries for the home garden. This information comes from CSU fact sheet of the same name #7.000 that is available at the extension office.
"Strawberries require at least eight hours of full sun each day of the growing season to produce at their maximum capability. Locate them in an area that does not interfere with the annual spading of the garden."
"The gardener generally has no choice as to soil type; however, a sandy loam soil with a southern exposure is ideal. Strawberries like a loose, moderately fertile soil. Before planting, work in 4 bushels of organic matter, 1 pound of nitrogen (N), 1 pound of phosphate, and 1-pound iron chelate per 1,000 square feet. In general, do not add more than 4 bushels fresh manure or more than 8 bushels of decayed manure. If you add more than 4 bushels of raw organic matter such as straw and sawdust, also add ¼ to ½ pound of nitrogen for each bushel in excess of 4."
"Strawberry varieties are classified as June bearing, everbearing or day neutral. Everbearing strawberries typically have two main bearing crops each year, with small amounts of fruit produced between the main crop in June and a lighter crop in late summer or early fall. For Colorado, everbearing strawberries are recommended for the home gardener because they tend to be more hardy. If a late spring frost kills the first flowers you will still get a crop in late summer or fall. Day neutral varieties are similar to everbearers, but flower and fruit more consistently over the summer."
"There are two systems used for strawberry culture: the matted row, used with June-bearing strawberries, and the hill system, used with everbearing or day neutral varieties. In the matted row system, space the plants 2 feet apart in rows 4 feet apart. These plants are allowed to produce runners to fill in the row. Leave a pathway 1-½ feet wide between rows. Remove or relocate runners that root in this pathway or within 5 inches of an established runner. With the hill system, space plants 1 foot apart in three rows that also are 1 foot apart, with 3 feet between each set of tree rows. Remove all runners as they develop."
"Select certified plants over noncertified ones. They are inspected for freedom from insects and disease. Unpack plants and plant right away or heel them in a trench as a temporary location until they can be set out in the garden. Transplant in the afternoon to reduce wilting. Discard plants with dark roots or that look unhealthy. Remove flower buds, runners and damaged leaves before planting. The usual planting method is to drive a spade into the soil, push the handle away to open up the soil, fan out the roots of the plant, and place the plant in the opening so that the soil level is even with the crown. While the plant is held with one hand, remove the spade with the other, and press the soil firmly around the roots to eliminate air pockets. Much stooping can be avoided if two people are involved in this operation. Water each plant individually at planting rather than sprinkling the plants when finished, because this could force wilted leaves into the soil."
"After planting, keep weeds down by hoeing. If the planting is large enough, consider an herbicide such as Dacthal. Apply this compound according to label instructions. Remove the first blossoms that form on a new planting at least once on the hill system and twice on the matted row system. This diverts the rexou4rces of the plant into producing a strong plant and, in the case of the matted row system, more runners. Stronger plants bear more fruit than those allowed to fruit early. Later in the season, there will be some fruit to enjoy on the everbearers or day neutral varieties."
"About July 1, fertilize the crop with 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. This may be obtained from 5 pounds of a 21-0-0 formulation. If the fertilizer Is broadcast, drag the foliage with a sack to dislodge the fertilizer and then water. Repeat the process in September. Nitrogen applied before fruiting results in soft fruit and is not recommended.
"Generally keep a strawberry bed for three years. If the matted row system is used and the plants re still insect and disease free, plant a new bed in late August by carefully removing good, healthy, rooted runners and using them for planting the new bed. If the hill system is used, where no runners are permitted, or if the plants are not healthy, order new plants in time for planting a bed in the spring, preferably in a different location."
"Keep the soil damp until the first fall frost, then withhold water to help harden off the plants for winter. A final November watering helps prevent winterkill from drying. Protect strawberries over the winter, generally with straw mulch applied about December 1. By then, cold weather has inhibited growth, and the soil is cold. Distribute the mulch over the plants to depth of1 to 2 inches. Hold it in place with weighted boards or piles of soil. This mulch prevents the plant from losing moisture to drying winter winds. It also prevents root damage caused by alternate freezing and thawing of the ground. Leave the mulch on as long as possible to restrain plant growth in the spring. Early spring growth produces early flowers subject to damage by adverse weather. Therefore, check the plants under the mulch in March for new growth. When growth begins, part the mulch to allow sunlight to reach the foliage. As the plants continue to grow, gradually remove the mulch, leaving as much as possible as a soil mulch to keep the fruit off the ground. Rake the mulch back over the plants to protect them in case of a late spring frost. Remove soon after the frost danger is over."
"To harvest your strawberries, pick every other day during the peak of the season. It is poor practice to let fruit rot on the vine, so pick even the rotted fruit. If berries are eaten or preserved immediately, harvest only red-ripe fruit and leave the caps on the plant. If the fruit will not be used for a few days, harvest the berries, caps and all, while still pink"
I plan to start a new bed this spring. Nothing beats the taste of home grown strawberries. Don’t you agree?
Next time…Raspberries for the Home Garden….