Strawberry For Groundcover

majorcatfish

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love a good challenge when it coming to growing throughout the year. the chances of building a greenhouse this year is slim to none. but do have the germination area which is perfect to try a very small scale trial run with a few modifications and minimal cost.
 

Carol Dee

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There used to be a strawberry place near us that grew their strawberries in hydroponics. Tasty. Easy to pick. :) The nutrients are added to water. Something @jackb can address for you.
 

Jared77

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Hydroponics shouldn't affect taste. It's the plant that dictates flavor. Yes nutrients play a role but it's not a deal breaker for flavor.
 

jasonvivier

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I will be planting a lot of fruit trees this spring. I am thinking of using strawberries as a groundcover around each tree. Hoping to save tree bark from weedwacker. I am assuming tree roots will be much deeper then starwberries so the 2 willn't compete with each other. Am I right ? What is best tasting strawberry ?

I think that is a great idea! I make it a point to plant a few things under my fruit trees.

My procedure for planting fruit trees is the following:

Dig hole, plant tree, surround planting hole with home made worm casting and bunny poo, surround the tree with cardboard, cover with straw and locally sourced healthy wood chips, and then plant several of these; Attila Strawberries, Comfry, Edible Lupine (Lupinus affn. Angustifolius), Egyptian Walking onions, sometimes Mint, Gooseberry, Current, Rhubarb, and Yarrow. By laying down the cardboard all of the grass dies, mulching conserves moisture, and the additional plants provide there own benefits but one main one is a harvest.

Generally speaking this tends to meet all of the plants needs. I always dig a berm around the sloping side of the tree to slow water down and give it a chance to penetrate into the earth around the roots. With this method I generally only have to water in the plant really well once and then I never do anything to it again. I have had good success with this.
 

TheSeedObsesser

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Walking through a stand of flowering fruit trees, with a cover of mint underneath, in the spring while the trees are flowering would be a nice experience (with the nice smell a pretty scenery). Tobacco and camomile would help keep some of the pests away, camomile has a nice smell. (Although I think that maintaining a healthy ecology by planting a wide variety of things is more important that using individual plants, when it comes to pests in an organic setup).

I once thought about making a "scent garden" out of every plant with a good smell, including some flowers and other things.

Welcome to TEG Jason! :frow
 
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