I have a small strawberry patch that I am having a hard time keeping the weeds out of. We do mulch with straw but the weeds just keep getting through. A friend at work told me that I should buy some salt at a feed store and sprinkle that on the berries. She said it would kill the weeds but wouldn't hurt the berries???? I have my doubts on this. Does anyone have any experience with this solution? Leay After reading my post, I realized that I look pretty lazy about weeding but I should clarify that between my huge garden, canning, mowing 4 acres and tending the grapes, raspberries and fruit trees on very little sleep (I work 12 hour night shifts), I tend to let the strawberries go!
dont use salt what you need to do is transplant your strawberrie lay down black plastic and cut holes in it for you berries to stick out slope the dirt toward the plants to get water to them it will last several years and no weed killers and will help warm ground in spring to have earlier berries.
You can also use newspaper (under the straw), as it will break down enrich the soil. You will have to reapply it each spring. Earthworms like it.
You need to apply a deep chipped wood/leaf mulch early in the season. It keeps the seed bank in the soil from germinating because most weed seeds need light to do so. If you already have the weeds you will need to hand weed or hoe them and then apply the mulch. The good thing is once the mulch is applied if a weed does appear it is very easy to yank. Don't do the salt thing - it will ruin your soil. You could hire a young teenager to weed - it's easy to tell a strawberry plant from a weed and for about $6 an hour it might be worth it just to get it done. Mulch, mulch, mulch.
Thanks for the replies everyone! I will be weeding and mulching today while the rain holds off. I agree about strawberry vs. mowing but I have bluffs behind my house and if the yard gets too tall, the snakes like to come down off the bluff. I don't deal with snakes very well! Leay
