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Strawberries for the north

My strawberry plants have really clogged up the bed this year. I don't know what variety they were as I bought them from a well known German food chain for pence 3 years ago. We had a bumper crop but they are now choking the fruit bushes they are under. Does anyone know which varieties would go well in the very north west and have a really good flavour? Also could I dig these old plants up and move them or are they running out of steam?

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    Have you taken runners from them frensclan? That's the usual method of propagating new plants to replace the old ones when they get tired. About three years is the average lifespan for strawbs and then they get a bit weary. You should have runners just now - the long stems that grow out and away from the plant. You just peg them down into pots of compost or the surrounding ground and then detach from the parent plant once they've rooted. Grow them on and in a couple of years they'll be productive - you might get a small crop the first year but the usual advice is to remove all flowers to let the plant get bigger first  image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Alina WAlina W Posts: 1,445

    If you fancy something different, alpine strawberries might be for you - they will be fine in the climate.

    But I have to warn you that they are very small, so the crop won't be enormous.

  • frensclanfrensclan Posts: 119

    Thankyou for that Fairygirl and Alina N. I had thought of taking runners and potting them on, and will certainly try that again. I have tried it in the past with varying success, not with this bed which I planted when we moved back up north 3 yrs ago. I was just thinking of trying a variety with a little more flavour. These are great for jam but I hoped to have a variety that would do well up here that had a little more flavour raw so to speak. The alpine strawbs are a good idea Alina but as you say very small.

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    I used to grow Elsanta which are always prolific and do well up here - I'm in central Scotland - and last year I bought some called Everbearing Buddy which I'd never seen before. The fruits are beginning to come through well now - we've had a few and they're big and tasty. They grow like mad and I've already taken runners off them  this year as they were good sized plants. The runners rooted very quickly and have now produced flowers which I removed to let them build up. image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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