One summer task that often gets delayed (at least in my household) is maintaining the strawberry bed. The strawberries stop producing in late July, just about the same time the garden, and everything else in Maine, gets busy.

To ensure your strawberries continue producing well and that the row stays narrow enough for easy picking next year, pull out the strawberry runners. At the same time, uproot all the violets (or maybe that’s just my own strawberry bed) and any other weeds. You’ll end up with a lot of perfectly good strawberry plants at the end of the runners.

If you or a friend has a spot to put them and a desire for more strawberries, plant them there.

In the summer issue of its newsletter, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association recommended transplanting the homeless strawberry plants to the area where you pulled your garlic. Although garlic and strawberries seem an unlikely match from a culinary perspective, it works in the garden because you pull your garlic and the soil is sitting vacant about the same time you find yourself with strawberry runners to plant.

The new strawberry plants should become well established before you mulch them for the winter and will be so far ahead of any strawberries you plant in the spring that you could pick a few from the new bed as soon as next year.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.