Strawberry beds

Each time you meticulously choosing strawberries in the market or in a store, you specified where they came from, carefully examined the berries for ripeness, any damage. And you have always dreamed that when a summer cottage appears, the first thing you do is set up a vast plantation and endless strawberry beds.

And finally, the dream has come true, you have your own garden and it's time to implement your plan - to plant strawberry bushes and wait for the harvest. How to do it - choose traditional strawberry beds or build an unusual structure? In this article, we will just discuss various options for how to prepare your own strawberry beds.

Strawberry beds: choosing a place

DIY strawberry beds: photoIt does not matter which design of the strawberry garden you choose in the end, planting always begins with the choice of a place.

Remember the rules of crop rotation, strawberries belong to the "pink" family, so it should be placed away from rose bushes and rose hips. In the case of close proximity, they simply do not have enough nutrients consumed from the soil.

An even bigger mistake would be to plant strawberries after roses, since common pests, having overwintered in the soil, can almost completely destroy your plantings in the spring.

Also, strawberries are not very fond of the neighborhood with bird cherry, apple trees, cherries, plums and other fruit trees. And it is not recommended to plant it on the site where raspberries or blackberries grew before it.

It is preferable to plant strawberries in a well-lit area, since under the influence of sunlight, berries accumulate more sugar and are better suited for fresh consumption.

But if you are interested in aroma and grow strawberries for compotes and jam, you can plant them in partial shade. There will be less sugar in the berries, but they will turn out to be more aromatic.

When choosing between sunny and shaded areas, take into account the factor that strawberries cannot be planted in the lowlands - with return frosts in the spring, there is a high probability that the soil in such places will freeze and the plants will die. Have you decided on a place? Now let's get down to preparatory work.

Preparing beds for strawberries

DIY strawberry beds: photo

Strawberries are usually planted in a new location in late summer or early fall, so you have enough time to get everything ready.

Now we are not talking about preparing a complex structure, but about traditional strawberry beds. To begin with, completely free the selected place from debris: there should be no branches, leaves and other plant debris left, all of them can be a source of infection in the future.

Dig up the ground, this will not only loosen it, but also disturb some harmful insects, which you can at least partially remove by hand. And then apply fertilizer, humus is suitable for this - for one square meter of strawberry beds, one bucket of fertilizing is required.

After you prepare the soil, mark out stripes in the garden to plant the strawberries. Keep in mind that the bushes will grow over time, so don't place them too close to each other when trying to plant more strawberries. In the future, too dense planting will not give a large yield and can lead to the death of plants.

Deep grooves should be laid between the rows of bushes, which will help remove excess moisture. Strawberries need enough water, but if there is an excess of it, rotting of the root system can begin, which is very dangerous.

Strawberry bushes should be placed on a slight elevation, and the drainage furrows should be about 25 cm lower. The width of the furrows is made in such a way that it is comfortable to move along them while caring for plants and when harvesting.

Rules for the formation of beds for strawberries

So, you have prepared the soil, now let's form the bed. Experienced gardeners advise to adhere to some rules that are not axiomatic, but help to achieve the best results and get a good harvest.

Firstly, the stripes are recommended to be located from east to west, so the plants are evenly illuminated throughout the day.

Secondly, the width of the hill where the strawberries will be planted is made 20-30 cm in size, the grooves between the strips are also 30 cm in size. These are the minimum parameters, if you have a large area, they can be slightly increased, but not reduced.

And, thirdly, strawberry bushes in the same row should be spaced from each other at a distance of at least 40 cm, so they can grow comfortably and not interfere with each other and avoid diseases. When the planting is too dense, one diseased plant can destroy the entire plantation, the strawberry whiskers are intertwined, and it is much more difficult to fight weeds in such conditions.

After you have formed the beds and made holes for the plants, proceed to planting. Be very careful not to damage the plant roots. After the end of the work, be sure to water all the bushes with warm water, and try not to wet the foliage under the root, foliage.

Do not use a garden hose when watering - a strong stream will wash away the loose soil after planting, expose the roots, and the plants may die.

At first, you will have to work hard, carefully watering each plant from a cup or baby watering can. Strawberries will grow in one place for 4-5 years, after which there will be too little necessary nutrients in the soil, the berries will be smaller and smaller and their number will decrease. Then it's time to think about moving the strawberries to a new location.

DIY strawberry beds using German technology

We talked about how to make the simplest strawberry garden; almost all gardeners start with this option. But then, when you want to somehow streamline the landings, you start thinking about other, more convenient options.

So now let's talk about other ways to plant strawberries. Some of them allow you to increase the yield, while others serve as a decorative function and help save space.

And we will start with a low structure, invented in Germany. The basis of this design is the manufacture of a box made of wood, slate or other material. The width of such a box should be at least 40 cm - for one row of strawberries, 80 cm - for two rows, etc. The height of the walls of such a box will be at least 60 cm.

So, if you decide to build German strawberry beds with your own hands, then first build boxes of the required size, then apply markings to the selected area. You will need to remove the sod and a layer of earth to a depth of 40 cm and install boxes in the resulting grooves (they will protrude 20-30 cm above the surface). Organic matter should be poured at the bottom of the grooves, which, rotting, will fertilize the soil.

Under organic matter, you can make a drainage layer of expanded clay, pebbles, gravel, broken brick - whoever has that. And then it is necessary to fill up the fertile soil to the brim and level the surface.

If you plan to mulch the beds with a film or spandbond - at this stage, unfold and secure the material and then start planting.

Plant rows of strawberry bushes depending on the width of the box, keeping a distance of at least 40 cm between bushes in a row and at least 50 cm between rows. After the end of the work, to complete the overall image, you can lay out paths between the boxes, this will look beautiful and make caring for the strawberries more comfortable.

Fences on the beds create more comfortable conditions for the growth of strawberries: during prolonged rains, the soil will not erode, there will be much less weeds, the strawberry whiskers will not get tangled, and a diseased plant in one bed will not threaten others - with this design, the probability of infection spread is minimal.

And it will be much easier and more pleasant for you to care for strawberries, having free access to each plant for weeding, fertilizing or watering.

By the way, it is necessary to water at the root, very carefully, in circular motions, checking each time after watering, whether the soil around the roots has eroded. I strongly recommend that you refuse to water with a hose, as it often leads to damage to the bushes and confusion in the beds and in the aisles between them.

The most ideal option for strawberries would be a drip irrigation system, which you can build yourself from medical droppers and improvised means. Believe me, a garden bed created using this technology will ensure you get the maximum yield.

But what if there is not much space on the site, there is nowhere to arrange such beds, but you want to plant strawberries? Strawberries are not only tasty, but also beautiful, so they do not have to be planted in the garden; in properly constructed structures, they will be an excellent decoration for the yard. This will save space while still harvesting delicious berries.

Tall strawberry bed

The name "bed" in this case is very conditional, as it already looks more like a flower bed. For this, any wooden or plastic boxes, as well as flower pots, are suitable. Be sure to lay a drainage layer at the bottom, then nutritious soil and plant strawberries.

Such boxes can be placed in the yard, around a gazebo or next to benches, around a house or vegetable garden. They can be moved as needed to more sunny areas.

Vertical beds for strawberries

This is also a great option if there is not enough space on the site. Build a human-sized structure from any available means: flower pots, plastic bottles, sewer pipes. All this must be attached to some kind of base (a dried tree, a fence, the corner of a gazebo or a shed is suitable), it is covered with earth and strawberries are planted in each container.

Pyramid

The wooden pyramid looks the most attractive, it is both spacious and decorative. Build a three- or quadrangular structure of planks and beams, cover with impregnation to prevent wood from rotting, and plant strawberries. I assure you that this design will be the best decoration for your garden.

Landing in bags

This is a kind of vertical bed for needlewomen. In case you don't have any building debris, you can use burlap, geotextile, tarp and other durable fabric. Sew the bags and fix them on a vertical base (as for a vertical flower bed, a dry tree, wall, fence will do), fill in the soil and plant strawberries.

Watering must be done carefully, each bag separately. This design looks no less decorative than the pyramid.

DIY strawberry bed

Despite the fact that some gardeners love this material, I consider it my duty to remind you that car tires are not an environmentally friendly material. But if you do use them, be sure to change them every couple of years.

From tires of different diameters, you can build a bed in the form of a pyramid, laying it in turn and filling it with earth. If all tires are the same size, then just stack them on top of each other, cover them with soil, make slots and plant strawberries in them.

We have considered different options for planting strawberries. Some were studied in more detail, others were told only in general terms. Ultimately, the shape of the garden bed is determined by the size of your site, the main thing to remember is the basic rules for planting and caring for strawberries: weed and water carefully, trim the mustache and remove drying leaves, monitor the health of the bushes.

Strawberries growing not in a garden bed, but in a box, bag or pot, will need to be fertilized more often, since the volume of soil at her disposal is small and it will quickly deplete. Try various options, empirically choose the most suitable for you, take care of the strawberries and the result will surprise and delight you.