Growing Strawberries in Ornamental Containers
Tasty Strawberry Fruit and Attractive Garden or Patio Features
Mar 28, 2009
Strawberries plants have attractive foliage and flowers as well as tasty fruit. Easy to grow in an ornamental pot or basket they'll brighten any patio or small garden.
In a small garden it’s often difficult to find room for everything you’d like to grow. Container grown strawberries can solve the problem. A single container in a sunny spot in the garden or patio can give a scrumptious harvest of delicious red fruit and an eye-catching garden feature - and they’re very easy to grow.
Suitable Strawberry Containers
- You can grow strawberries in almost any container - terracotta pots, glazed pots, plastic pots, troughs and window boxes, wooden barrels or hanging baskets. If you haven’t got a garden you could even grow a strawberry plant or two in windowsill pots.
- If a good crop rather than ornamental appearance is your priority, grow bag cultivation gives excellent results.
- Among the best and most attractive containers are the specially designed terracotta strawberry planters you’ll find in garden centres and from internet suppliers.
- Possibly even better is to use an open topped wooden barrel, and drill additional planting holes around the sides.
The Keys to Successful Strawberry Cultivation
- Use the largest container practicable in the space available.
- Don’t try to squeeze in too many plants - as a guide three is the maximum for a 15inch pot or hanging basket.
- Use a good quality compost.
- Make sure the container is well drained. Use pot feet or wedges to keep drainage holes clear.
- Plant strawberries in September or October for the best crop next year.
- Plant your strawberry plants so that the crowns are above the soil level to avoid rot.
- Never let the container dry out. You’ll need to water frequently in hot or windy weather, but don’t overwater.
- Feed with a high potash liquid feed like Tomorite once the flowers appear.
Choosing Strawberry Plants
- You can grow from seed but it’s rarely worth the time and effort.
- Growers and garden centres normally offer a choice of strawberry runners ( rooted offshoots), or ready potted strawberry plants.
- There’s little to choose between them, but runners are usually cheaper, while pot grown plants will often give better first season yields.
- Pot grown strawberries will also produce a crop in their first year from a spring planting.
- Look for sturdy plants with healthy foliage, and make sure that the roots of runners especially have been kept moist.
Choosing Strawberry Varieties
- Which variety of strawberry to grow is very much a matter of personal preference.
- Probably the most popular main crop variety is Elsanta, which produces good yields of tasty bright red, well shaped fruit. However, there are many other strawberries to choose from.
- If you wish to extend the picking time, include one or two plants of an early variety like Honeoye or a late variety like Symphony.
- For a summer-long crop, you can try one of the ever bearer strawberry varieties, but many gardeners find these produce smaller yields and less tasty fruit than regular varieties.
- Wild or alpine strawberries look particularly attractive in a container and are very tasty, but yields are small.
Replacing Your Plants
- A well maintained strawberry container should give good crops for three seasons.
- After this replant with fresh plants and compost.
The copyright of the article Growing Strawberries in Ornamental Containers in Orchards/Fruit Gardening is owned by Tony Allen. Permission to republish Growing Strawberries in Ornamental Containers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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