Weedy Strawberry Patch

[striver]

I recently moved into a home with a nice strawberry patch. It produced several pounds of delicious berries this spring.

However, there is a bit of a weed problem. Certain areas are heavy with grass, and there is thistle throughout. I've pulled what I could without upsetting the berries too much, but it hasn't fixed the issue, especially with the grass.

To make matters worse, the patch is so wide that you actually have to walk into the patch to reach the berries and weeds in the center. I tread as delicately as I can, but that's only going to alleviate some of the damage.

How can I fix this? I'd prefer to stay away from chemicals if possible. Thanks.

 

[journey11]

Welcome to TEG, @striver !

I think I would take from the runners and just start a new patch elsewhere. Anything you did to kill the weeds would kill the existing strawberry plants anyways.

Take time to prepare the new spot well. You can either de-sod by shovel or you can use clear plastic in the heat of summer to solarize and kill the grass in the new patch. Amend with lots of compost, bonemeal, bloodmeal, till it all in. Take the pH and lime if needed. Then come early fall, move your runners or replant with new stock if you should suspect any diseases. But if they're bearing really nice berries on clean looking foliage, you're probably fine. Mulch around the plants for weed control and wait for spring. (May need mulched over winter, over top of the plants, depending on your climate...wait for a hard freeze first.)

Do you know if they are Everbearers or June-bearers? How you manage them and their rows past that point will depend on which they are. June-bearers will give you a full crop next spring, if that's what you have. I like to plant June-bearers in the ground in rows so I can till between them. They go nuts making runners, but that's a good thing. Your next year's crop comes off of the runners. Everbearers I prefer to put in raised beds, since you keep the "mother" plant for 4-5 years and pinch out most of their runners. The more crowns the mother plant develops, the more productive they are.

Hope that helps!

 

[striver]

Thanks for the info journey. Not sure what sort of berries I have. What would distinguish between the two?

 

[journey11]

Well, if you get another crop of berries coming on here in the next few weeks, then you'd have Everbearers. Those would continue to bear steadily until frost. The June-bearers however make one big crop only in late May/early June. If you like to make jam, June-bearers are nice for that. Everbearers are great if you just want a handful of berries to toss in your breakfast cereal or smoothie each day. (Or have children who will graze on them all day long. )

 

[striver]

The patch has stopped producing recently, so looks like I have June-bearers.

 

[Nyboy]

Welcome from NY

 

[so lucky]

Journey11 gave some excellent information. My strawberry patch went wild and it is difficult to find a place to step. My recent yoga training has helped, as I often find myself standing on one foot with arms outstretched in opposite directions, like some weird yoga pose, to find and pick the berries.
If you notice, the pick-your-own places have their berries on ridges, with the ground covered in black plastic, with the berry plants planted in holes. That seems to be a clean way of doing it, if you decide to start a new patch.

 

[Nyboy]

Lucky thanks for the laugh this morning !! I had vision of you doing yoga weeding !!

 

[Smart Red]

As @journey11 said, I believe the best way to have a good strawberry bed is to make a new one with runners from your current bed. I did that last year, myself, since my old bed was so grassy it started to over run the strawberries.

If you want to keep the current bed -- and invest a lot of work and time -- you could. Clean out and direct some of the new runners to a clean area around the current bed. Then till a goodly area for walking down the middle of the current bed. Let that space fill in with new runners as well. Next year till down the oldest strawberry plants and use that space, first for walking space when picking and then for new runners. During this time you will also have to keep working on the grass and weeds.

In this way you can keep a bed healthy and growing for many years. Since this is a lot of work, most strawberry growers just plan for a new strawberry bed every 3 years or so.

By the way, @striver, I also want to welcome you (and your Gothic spouse) to The Easy Garden! I hope you find this site as enjoyable, educational, and helpful as I do. Here's hoping you find a home at TEG and stop back often.

 

[Carol Dee]

It may be time for use to start a new bed also, the grass has taken over the older one. Also I want to say HOWDY to @striver