Pruning strawberries annually after harvest in summer or fall
Content:
Almost every summer resident has at least a small bed of strawberries. And some plant entire plantations of this delicious berry. The secret of a good strawberry harvest is in proper planting care. Annual strawberry pruning, mulching, fertilization are also important points. We will talk about the proper care of strawberry bushes in this article.
Rejuvenation
In late summer or early autumn, when the berry harvest has long been harvested, revise your strawberry plantation, examining each bush. Perhaps you outlined some candidates for elimination back in the summer - there were no berries on these bushes.
Dig up any bushes that look unhealthy or drying out. Leave only strong, healthy specimens. In the future, plant new ones in place of the dug out bushes. The distance between the strawberry bushes should be at least 30 cm so that they are not cramped.
Annual pruning of strawberries
Remove old mulch from planting before pruning. If you have a lot of strawberries and are planted in long rows, use a lawn mower to trim them back. But, as a rule, in summer cottages there is not such a large amount of strawberries and it is quite possible to get by with a pruner.
Cut off all bushes at a height of 5-7 cm, at least. Otherwise, you can damage the outlet of the plant, which in the future will negatively affect the growth of new leaves. This pruning is usually done two to three weeks after the last berries have been picked.
Top dressing
Remove all weeds thoroughly before fertilizing. Apply a suitable mineral fertilizer around the cut bushes. This contributes to the growth of a powerful root system, which will provide an excellent harvest next season.
And after fertilizing, you can add compost. This will have a beneficial effect on the health of the soil, helping it to restore the consumed supply of nutrients.
Mulching
The final procedure will be mulching. This requires fresh, well-dried straw. Since it is highly likely that harmful insects and pathogenic bacteria have already settled in the old mulch. Spread the straw around the bushes in a layer five to eight centimeters. This will seriously slow down the development of weeds and help maintain the necessary soil moisture.
Frequent watering at this time of strawberries is no longer required, it is enough to do it once a week (and if there is enough rainfall, then you can not water at all). Follow the weather forecast. Before the first frosts, carry out additional mulching of the bushes to insulate the roots for the winter and protect them from freezing. And in the spring, don't forget to clean up the mulch so that the strawberries can grow freely.
As a rule, strawberries are grown in one place for a long time, while complaining that the harvest is getting smaller from year to year. These simple, but must-have strawberry plantation maintenance jobs will allow you to harvest a rich harvest of large, tasty and healthy berries every year.