Grow strawberry in full sun and well-drained soil that stays evenly moist. Strawberry is Fragaria — a low fruit crop, not a strawberry tree.
Give them full sun, well-drained soil, and about an inch of water a week
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Full sun, at least six hours | Deep shade that makes leaves and few berries |
| Soil | Moist ground that drains after rain | A puddle around the crown |
| Water | About 1 inch a week on the shallow roots | Letting the bed bake dry, then flood |
| Kind | Match June-bearing, everbearing, or day-neutral to the harvest you want | Treating every tag as a June jam crop |
Strawberry roots sit near the surface, so the bed dries and floods faster than a deep-rooted shrub. Give the plants sun and soil that does not stand wet. A June-bearer such as Allstar wants the same sun and drain as Jewel. [1] [2] Day-neutral plants fruit for months, so they need steady moisture through summer heat. June-bearers rest after the crop. Pick the group on Types of Strawberry if the tag only says everbearing. When berries color, pick them on Harvesting Strawberry.
How much sun do strawberries need?
Full sun. Fruit falls off in deep shade.
How often should I water strawberries?
Aim for about an inch a week, more in heat. The roots are shallow, so check the top of the bed rather than a calendar alone.
After a June crop, mow the leaves just above the crown
June-bearing beds need a cleanup after harvest so new leaves can grow and next year’s flower buds can form. Do this within a couple of weeks of the last picking. Ozark Beauty and other everbearing or day-neutral plants keep fruiting into fall, so do not mow those.
- Cut or mow the leaves 2 to 3 inches above the crowns. Do not nick the crowns.
- Pull weeds and weak plants. Thin crowded daughters so light and air reach the row.
- Scratch in a balanced fertilizer, then water. Keep the bed from drying while new leaves come.
Replace a crowded, diseased bed after three or four fruiting years rather than trying to save every crown. [3]
Do I mow everbearing strawberries?
No. Renovation is for June-bearers after the one crop. Everbearing and day-neutral plants are still fruiting.
Cover the crowns with straw after the ground freezes
Shallow roots heave when the soil freezes and thaws. After several sharp freezes — nights near 20°F — cover the bed with 2 to 3 inches of clean straw. Pull the straw aside in spring before the leaves yellow, and keep some in the paths to tuck over blossoms on a frost night.
- Wait until the plants have gone dormant after several freezes. Do not bury green, growing crowns in early fall.
- Spread weed-free straw over the plants.
- In spring, pull the straw into the aisles once new leaves start. Leave it there as a fruit mulch.
When do I put straw on the bed?
After several freezes, when nights are near 20°F, not at the first cool evening.
Not strawberry tree — and not mock strawberry
Strawberry tree is Arbutus, an evergreen with mealy fruit. Vanilla Strawberry is a panicle hydrangea. Strawberry begonia is Saxifraga stolonifera, a houseplant. Mock strawberry (Potentilla indica) has yellow flowers and bland fruit held upright. [4] Garden strawberry has white flowers and fruit that hangs. Alpine and native wild strawberries are still Fragaria.
Is a strawberry tree a strawberry?
No. Strawberry tree is Arbutus. Care for that plant is a different genus.
What is mock strawberry?
A weedy lookalike with yellow flowers and flavorless fruit. True strawberries have white flowers.
If fruit stays small and the bed is a thicket, thin after the June crop — do not add shade.
FAQ
Are strawberries perennials?
Yes in the ground, with winter straw. A bed usually declines after three or four fruiting years. In a pot, treat plants as a one-season crop.
What about gray mold?
Gray mold hits wet fruit. Keep the bed open to air, pick often, and do not leave rotting berries in the row.
Related guides
Recommended plants
References
- [1] NC State Extension Gardener -
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/fragaria-x-ananassa/ - [2] University of Maryland Extension -
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/growing-strawberries-home-garden - [3] Ohio State University Extension -
https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1424 - [4] University of Minnesota Extension -
https://extension.umn.edu/identify-invasive-species/mock-strawberry
This note is part of Fragaria Guides.
More first-season notes by plant are gathered in How to Grow Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors