How to Renovate Strawberry Plants

Strawberries work well as simple snacks or ingredients in other sweet dishes like strawberry shortcake and strawberry ice cream. Strawberries from the grocery store can be a little pricey, so consider growing your own strawberries and save some money. In order to properly care for your strawberry plants and keep them healthy through the year, you will need to renovate them. Renovation is the act of clearing away old plants to make room for new, livelier plants. Follow a few simple guidelines to renovate your plants and help ensure a healthy strawberry crop for the next harvest season.

Things You'll Need

• Strawberry plants
• Garden gloves
• Rotary tiller
• Rake
• Fertilizer
• Water

Instructions

1. Mow over your strawberry plants with a rotary tiller after the last harvest in the season. You will want to lower the plants down to 1 inch of height above their crown. Complete this step within 1 week of the last harvest or you may damage new leaf growth. Taking off that much of your strawberry plant may seem a little unnerving at first, but it allows your plant's new leaves to come through without competition from old leaves that will no longer produce strawberries.

2. Rake away all the remaining leaves and debris. You can put the remains in a compost pile or in the trash, but it must not impede the growth of the strawberries. Try not to rake over the small strawberry crowns, if possible; the rake may pull the delicate plants out of the ground.

3. Fertilize the surviving strawberry plants. Use only 5 lb. of fertilizer for every 100 square feet of your strawberry patch.

4. Remove all weeds and weak strawberry plants from your strawberry patch. Space your remaining strawberry plants every 12 inches. This will eliminate competition between plants and allow your remaining strawberries to get the most out of the nutrients you provide.

5. Water your strawberries thoroughly after weeding. The water helps activate the fertilizer and promotes quick growth after you have clipped off the tops of the plants. Water should sink 8 to 12 inches deep in order to saturate the roots. Avoid over-watering that may lead to stagnant puddles forming around your plants.

6. Fertilize your strawberry plants with nitrogen-based fertilizer in late August to September. By late August, your strawberries should already have new fruit buds on them, so the extra fertilization early on in their production helps create a larger, healthier harvest. The fertilizer should be specifically nitrogen-based.

References

• North Carolina State University Extension: Strawberries in the Home Garden
• Iowa State University Extension: Renovation of June-Bearing Strawberries