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Before I moved to Portland, I didn’t understand how passionate people can be about strawberries. But once I started growing strawberries, I came to understand that a disproportionate percentage of berries I grew would be lost to bugs, wildlife, and disease. Since summer is short, I’ve worked hard to minimize my losses, and I have suggestions for protecting these precious garden jewels.
Keep strawberries off the ground
Strawberries are a ground cover, spreading through runners, which create the next generation of strawberry plants. Each plant grows berries at the ends of stems, and those berries usually make contact with the ground. There, they are exposed to prolonged moisture from the soil, are easy picking for bugs, and are harder for you to spot for picking. So the obvious answer is to prevent contact with the ground.
There are plenty of options, including the classic strawberry planter. There are many versions of this traditional terra cotta planter with multiple portholes for berry plants, and you simply plant one in each porthole. In recent years, I’ve seen Pinterest boards inundated with strawberries growing in gutters so you can elevate them above ground. I created a vertical planter, and all of these solutions have some common benefits and challenges. Because you’re not planting in the ground, your plants have less soil to root in, and that soil dries out faster. You’ll need to be conscious of this and ensure you’re using a soil that has additives to hold onto moisture, like potting soil, which usually includes vermiculite and perlite. Make sure that soil has the right fertilizer (strawberries like a slightly acidic soil) and consistent watering systems, so they always have moisture in the soil (but are not soaking wet). This lack of soil protection means your plants lack insulation from winter’s cold, so it’s unlikely your plants will survive from year to year; expect to replace them each spring.
That said, I argue it’s worth it, because each plant has excellent exposure to sun, and the berries hang, where they have air flowing around them and are out of reach to soil-bound pests like pill bugs. The berries are easy to spot, and get sun exposure for ripening. This all makes for easy picking. Not for nothing, I love freeing up the ground for other plants.
If you can’t go vertical with your berries, and you’re stuck with ground cover, strawberry supports may be the answer. These trellises are like a small platform your berry plant grows through, and they loft your plant enough to keep berries off the ground. The key is to get your the supports on your plant early in the season while the plant is quite small. The nice thing is that there’s nothing particularly advanced about these supports; you can grab them from all sorts of providers, and even 3-D print them yourself. If you grow on the ground using these supports, you should still consider additional pest protections.
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