Monday, April 9, 2012

A new strawberry bed

I've had a strawberry bed for 2 years now - (just a plot of land about 4 ft by 8 ft, cut out of the sod and a couple of plants planted).  The runners from the strawberry plant took over in no time and covered the entire space.  I don't remember the name of the variety, but they only produce berries in June, so definitely june bearing. 

A raised bed placed on top of old strawberry bed(black edge)

Since my previous experience of building a raised bed, I decided to build one for strawberries too.  I read that the strawberry needs to be replanted about every two years, so it was time to replant the runners and also try out a different variety.  After filling the new bed with compost and lots of it, some of the old runners were replanted.  I picked out a everbearing - 'Quinault' strawberry in a small pot at Walmart for $2.98.  Divided the bed in two sections, one for the new variety and the other for the old one.
Here's the redone strawberry bed. The lone plant is Quinault and the rest are June bearing ones.

Unfortunately, I was saddened to see that the deer had already tasted the new planting- the very next day(:-  The leaves were chewed off and a part of the plant uprooted.  I've planted that back and watered them.  Also, covered it with net, so hopefully the plant will root and send some runners soon.

'Quinault' strawberry plant chewed off by deer!



4 comments:

  1. I hope you find a solutions for your deer problem. I have a groundhog problem & have to fence mine.

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  2. loved strawberry bed. I hope the deer stay away!

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  3. Looks great! I put in a strawberry bed a few years ago and it really helps to control the strawberries. They'll still try to shoot out of the bed, but I can easily trim them back around the edges. Sorry to hear about the deer. I have to keep my strawberries fenced in otherwise the rabbits eat the fruit before I can get to them.

    Amy

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  4. rmgales - I've already thought of it and am more prepared for the deer - except, I didn't think I needed to worry about 1/2 inch plants.

    Mrs.Pickles - I wish I could post 'No deer allowed' and it would work! Wishful thinking:)

    Amy - I fence strawberry beds only after strawberries appear! Didn't think I had to worry about new plantings...
    I've posted comments on your site!

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