Strawberries

Gardening with Rabbits

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I have a box with June-bearing strawberries. I have weeded this and weeded it. This year it is just out of hand. The grass growing looks better than the yard. I am thinking of digging them up and starting in a different place. Would they produce after being transplanted this year?
 

flowerbug

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I have a box with June-bearing strawberries. I have weeded this and weeded it. This year it is just out of hand. The grass growing looks better than the yard. I am thinking of digging them up and starting in a different place. Would they produce after being transplanted this year?

they might, but it may be a bit late if disturbed now and also they may do better if you can replace old plants with new plants. IMO just emptying the box completely and starting over with good soil that has plenty of organic material in it, but the best time to renovate june bearing gardens is towards the end of summer when it starts cooling down but not too late because you want the plants well established before winter sets in. also old plants (older than 2-3yrs) are less productive than newer plants so if you can restart the space from newer runners and 1yr plants that will help too.

my 1st strawberry patch i was finally able to redo last year and i'm glad to see that most of the plants survived the winter (i never got around to lightly mulching them). i see i missed a few weeds so i'll have to go through there this spring once the weather decides to stay a little more stable.

i'm looking forwards to this strawberry season because it will be the first year the expanded strawberry patch is fully planted and more level so it should help with picking and weeding if i'm not having to contend with a pile of dirt to walk up and down.
 

canesisters

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When I built mine last summer I put down the box frame - roughly 4'x4'x12". Then laid cardboard to cover the grass. Then filled with soil, planted the berry plants and then mulched HEAVILY. They are doing GREAT so far this year and I've only had to pull a couple of little bits of grass and a baby oak tree out.
Is your bed small enough that you could mulch it after you weed it???
 

catjac1975

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I have a box with June-bearing strawberries. I have weeded this and weeded it. This year it is just out of hand. The grass growing looks better than the yard. I am thinking of digging them up and starting in a different place. Would they produce after being transplanted this year?
Probably not this year. Iggave up on strawberries after what I called 8 months of weeding for 2 weeks of berries. I am going to try again this year. I have tried many tricks in the past. This time I am going to try growing with with blocking fabric. May be cursing them igain inn a year or two.. What inspired me is after going to pick your own berry place it was clear that they were being grow in a pure chemical environment. No longer can you buy a sweet tasting ripe berry. I realize they have been bred to keep in a store but the flavor has been bread out of them.. Back to growing may own.
 

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When I built mine last summer I put down the box frame - roughly 4'x4'x12". Then laid cardboard to cover the grass. Then filled with soil, planted the berry plants and then mulched HEAVILY. They are doing GREAT so far this year and I've only had to pull a couple of little bits of grass and a baby oak tree out.
Is your bed small enough that you could mulch it after you weed it???

When I built this box, I did the same. This is 4x4x10 and I laid cardboard and old rabbit bedding and then soil and mulched but my mulched. The box has been neglected some the last couple of years. I have a wheelbarrow full of old straw and wood shavings that broke down after 2 years. I am either going to build a new box and use this to mulch with or do what you suggested and weed and mulch.
 

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Probably not this year. Iggave up on strawberries after what I called 8 months of weeding for 2 weeks of berries. I am going to try again this year. I have tried many tricks in the past. This time I am going to try growing with with blocking fabric. May be cursing them igain inn a year or two.. What inspired me is after going to pick your own berry place it was clear that they were being grow in a pure chemical environment. No longer can you buy a sweet tasting ripe berry. I realize they have been bred to keep in a store but the flavor has been bread out of them.. Back to growing may own.

I agree about the taste and the chemicals. I never buy them anymore. I just get my little treasures I worked so hard for and then no more for a year. I used to have everbearing too. Having a strawberry patch and an asparagus bed has been more work than anything else for a small amount of food for a short period of time, but I think I get more satisfaction out of those 2 than anything, taste, and maybe because so early. DH put blocking fabric for me on the fence in the front yard so I could plant flowers on the fence. it slowed weeds down the first year. When I read what you posted, I saw block and my mind went to cement block. I thought you had an idea there for a minute. lol
 

so lucky

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I noticed the place where I have gone to pick berries has black plastic down, with holes cut for the plants. Of course, they have water lines run to each plant, too, so it's a pretty failproof way to do it.
Black water-permeable fabric would be better if you aren't going to do the watering lines.
I thought I was going to get quite a few berries from my patch this year, until DH decided to fix the fence yesterday and trampled about half the plants in the process. Sigh! :rolleyes:
 

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I noticed the place where I have gone to pick berries has black plastic down, with holes cut for the plants. Of course, they have water lines run to each plant, too, so it's a pretty failproof way to do it.
Black water-permeable fabric would be better if you aren't going to do the watering lines.
I thought I was going to get quite a few berries from my patch this year, until DH decided to fix the fence yesterday and trampled about half the plants in the process. Sigh! :rolleyes:

aww!
 

Smart Red

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i believe u-pick places deal with weed and grass problems by tearing up plants and redoing beds every three years or so. we home gardeners love and care for each tiny plant so we often keep the bed going longer than we should. i have two beds dedicated to strawberries. i used to plant one, harvest the second and third year. that third year, i planted new runners in the second bed, starting the new bed. that way i had a relatively steady production and managed weed and grass problems and had fallow years to improve the soil.
 

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