One and Two - An empty bed ready for some spuds next year and Runner Beans, Chard, Squash and Courgette;
Three and Four - Tomatoes and Chillis, and an awesome raspberry bush;
Five, Six and Seven - Wildflowers, more Beans, Pumpkin, Rhubarb(out of shot) and Strawberries;
I'm a bit scared of strawberries. They've never liked me much. They refuse to overwinter for me at home, instead deciding to die off. I have here a bed of very mature, wonderfully fruitful strawberry plants. Well at least they were until I got my hands on them. They were giving me the beady eye today, they're just waiting to die off, I just know it.
I started pulling up the strawberry runners, and have hundreds of the little bleeders. I bought a carrier bag home and still have literally billions. What the hell do I do now with a)the plants that are being left to overwinter, and b)the runners? Do the old plants in the ground need anything doing to them? I've just been taking out the old brown leaves and leaving the green ones, but is that right? The lady who left gave me a note to get me to remove the straw from between the plants, but I thought they needed that to protect them from the frosts? Does it need removing and replacing? Do the runners need to be in a cold frame/greenhouse, or can I plant them out too?
So many questions.
1 comment:
The straw can go - it's predominantly to keep the fruiting strawberries off the ground and rotting. I'd leave the strawberries in the ground and pot up the runners (assuming they have roots on them). I left my runners outside in pots over winter before planting in spring but kept the old plants in the ground just in case the new ones didn't grow. If they're looking ready to rock and roll next spring, dig out the old ones and replace with the new. I gave my newly planted ones a light dusting of woodash round them after they'd been planted and had a fab crop.
Post a Comment