Strawberry bed

[lostspring]

How do you all prepare your strawberries for winter. I read some mow them off and straw cover.
Do you wait until the ground is frozen before you straw.
This is a first year bed.
Thanks

[Backfourty,MI.]

I had mine in a one of those strawberry pots last spring, then I transplanted them to huge fire rings at the end of the garden to make raised strawberry beds(Got the rings really cheap at the end of last season from TSC) and all I do for my area is cover them good with straw about the end of November or first week of December or so, depending on the weather. After the first good freeze usually, not just frost.

[Callieslamb]

I won't mow mine - the leaves are protection too. After the ground freezes I will put straw on top of the beds and then a cattle panel on top of that to hold the straw down.

In spring, I'll remove the cattle panel, start pulling back the straw. If the dead leaves are too thick, I will pull them out of bed and maybe recover with a bit of the straw. The leaves should grow through the straw and be the mulch for next year.

[lickcreek]

Callieslamb, how deep do you put your straw? And how early in the spring (what temperatures) do you start to uncover?

Mine is a second year raised bed that performed wonderfully this year. I did not get it covered last year, but we ended up having a pretty mild winter and it really took off this year. I would like to cover it, as I am not convinced this will be as nice of a winter.
I am afraid I will cover it too deeply, or not get it uncovered in time next spring and kill off what plants I have.

[labrat]

I started last year at our old property with the crowns in a whiskey barrel. Since we have purchased our homestead, I have transplanted them into a pyramid. Everything I have read seems to imply that if I insulate with several inches of straw, I should be okay. We have had two nights of freezing temperatures and I haven’t gotten around to accomplishing this yet. For whatever reason, there seems to be other chores that I need to accomplish first. The temperatures are rising so I will have more time before the next hard freeze.

[Paquebot]

Straw can form quite a solid mat as can shredded leaves. This year I'm trying something different, shredded straw. It's wheat straw but ran twice through a bagging mower to chew it up good. The bits were small enough to filter down through the leaves and fill in nicely between plants. They may have lost some of their insulating quality but may be more effective for weed control and remain in place to keep the June berries off the soil.

Martin

[woodsy_gardener]

In USDA zone 6b most years my strawberry plants remain green all year. They are mulched with leaves. I once lived in Michigan; I remember thinking every spring, "I made it thru another winter." More power to y'all.

BTW The leaves make a very nutritious tea. They are a mild laxative.

[lostspring]

Originally Posted by Paquebot

Straw can form quite a solid mat as can shredded leaves. This year I'm trying something different, shredded straw. It's wheat straw but ran twice through a bagging mower to chew it up good. The bits were small enough to filter down through the leaves and fill in nicely between plants. They may have lost some of their insulating quality but may be more effective for weed control and remain in place to keep the June berries off the soil.

Martin

Martin
Do you wait until the ground is frozen or do you mulch now?

[DoubleD]

We do not get very severe winters (generally a few weeks down into the low 20's and that is as bad as it gets). I just leave my plants alone until about late February, at which time I cut back the majority of the spent vegetation and remove it - leaving the central growing point untouched. I do any needed weeding at this time while I am abel to see around the plants better and then I add a layer of compost on the soil of the bed and scratch it in. About a month later, I come back and scratch in a little general purpose organic fertilizer just before the plants really take off producing vegetation. That is about the time I also fertilize my blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, rhubarb, and other trees and shrubs that need it. I also side dress with garden sulphur around the blueberries and cranberries in early spring as well.