Pruning Strawberries
Growing strawberries is extreamly easy work and the rewards can be amazing from the plants. To get good crops you will need to look after them which includes pruning them and tidying up the strawberry plants. Pruning Strawberries is vital to having a good crop the year after. In this article we will give you all the tips and advice on pruning strawberries for a great crop year on year.
Strawberry plants need a bit of tlc through the summer while they are fruiting before they end for the rest of the season
Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book
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Taking Strawberry Cuttings and transplanting Strawberries
When the Strawberries finish fruiting they will start sending out runners. Strawberry runners are what make more plants. These are expensive to purchase from shops so start your own plants from them. IF you don’t need them still pot them up and give to friends or family. We will explain how to take the cuttings.
When the Strawberries send out the runners they will have a little strawberry plant on the end of it. With this runner you need to either pin it into the soil if you are growing them in the ground or pin it into a plant pot with soil in. You don’t need to use compost they will grow fine in soil. Do not cut the runner off yet. Wait for the Strawberry runner to take root. Once you know it has taken root you can cut the runner off the plant – the same method as an umbilical cord. Leave the strawberry plant to grow and move into its final position in March.
If you are not wanting the runners or willing to grow them for friends or family they need to be cut off straight away as they take the energy from the mother plant that they are attached to.
You can watch our video below about taking strawberry runners.
How to prune Strawberries
Now you have sorted out the runners on your Strawberry plants you now need to prune your strawberries ready for the next year. There are two methods you can use to pruning your strawberries. We will tell you both methods:-
Method one to prune strawberries
Method one is quite easy. All you need to do is cut each strawberry plant down to around 4 inches once they have finished fruiting and all the runners have been taken off the plant. Do this to all the strawberry plants. Clear up all the old leaves and strawberries and put them on your compost heap ready to rot down. If the plant is over 4 years old dig it up and replace it with a new plant that you have grown from a runner.
Method two to prune strawberries
Method two on how to prune strawberries is the fastest method out of them all. Get your lawn mower and set it to the highest cut. Then simply run over your plants. This way it will cut all your plants down at a speedy timing. Clear up all the old leaves and add it to your compost heap to rot down.
We hope you have found these tips on how to prune strawberry plants and how to take cuttings from the plants. You can check out more tips and advice here.