Site Selection

Among the most important factors in successful strawberry gardening is site selection. A well-considered site plan adds much to the longevity and quality of your strawberry garden. When choosing your strawberry garden site several factors are considered.

what you want from your strawberry garden

The first criteria for choosing your strawberry garden site is to determine what you want from your strawberry garden. If you are seeking fruit for your families table then traditional gardening strategies are best. If however, you are seeking a few berries to be eaten fresh with no need for large quantities of berries or perhaps, as decorative elements in and around your home, then a non-traditional strategy may be best.

Do You Have Space

Second, is space available to be used. Space will be needed not only for the creation of the strawberry bed but also to allow for renovation of the strawberry garden as it ages to ensure continued production and to allow time for old sites to be fallow to reduce disease and pest habitat. If you have space, consider designating a garden patch for the crop to be in production, the site for the next crop, a fallow site being green manured and otherwise prepared for a future next crop. Renovation and crop rotation are necessary continued production and plant health.

The Condition and Past Usage of the Site

Third, is the condition and past usage of the site. Strawberry garden will perform best:

• With full sun, good drainage, and good air circulation.
• Avoid locations where water may collect into pools even regardless of the season and those areas where water stands for weeks within a foot of the surface during the growing season.
• In areas that have not been used as old strawberry, potato or tomato beds that have been in use for extended periods without a fallow year. These areas are liable to contain insect enemies or rust spores.
• Land that has not been grass within one year or two is to be avoided, on account of the probable presence of white grubs in it.
• Located strawberry beds away from large trees; large trees deprive plants of water and nutrients.
• Avoid low-lying “frost pockets,” so your berries blossoms don’t freeze in the spring.
• The strawberry patch will be a good deal easier to care for if a water source is nearby. You can then use a fine spray at sundown to ward off a late spring frost that threatens blossoms, and so you can water regularly in periods of drought when strawberries, more than any other fruits, suffer from lack of water.