Wintering Gutter Strawberries

Make two more marks 9 inches from each end of the gutter to mark the appropriate spacing for planting three strawberry.

Wintering gutter strawberries.

Container grown strawberries benefit from a little winter protection. In the past in our strawberry bed we grew berries of the june bearing and ever bearing variety. Move strawberry jars into an unheated garage for winter. If the strawberry bears most of its fruit in the early summer then it is a good candidate for overwintering.

Rain gutters can be mounted to the side of decks or vertically to the side of your house or shed to create a strawberry wall a rain gutter about 4 and a half feet long is enough to grow 3 4 strawberry plants depending on plant size. Wrap large strawberry pots or barrels with burlap and or bubble wrap and stuff the top opening with straw 6 to 8 inches deep. So keeping the roots cool enough to produce a good crop of strawberries can pose a problem for strawberries planted in gutters. Day neutral varieties like albion jewel fort laramie ozark beauty and tristar may yield strawberries for months on end but they only get weaker if you try to keep them through the winter for production next year.

Remove winterizing mulch in spring as growth resumes. Gutter planted strawberries have no such natural insulation. Michael drilled holes in the gutter towards the bottom every 1 1 2 or so for proper drainage. To winterize strawberry plants in a pyramid apply mulch 6 to 8 inches deep.

And by that i mean well they are all dead big gardening fail. If the strawberry towers or gutters pipes can be moved into the garage or other similar shelter they will often do better than if left suspended above the ground and exposed to all the harshest weather winter can throw at them. In time we decided we just preferred the june bearing so we ripped out all of the ever bearing. Thinning runners and older plants follow these essential tasks to give your strawberry plants the best chance of overwintering unscathed.

One of the best ways is to place the container in a bigger container and then insulate the space between with leaves or straw. Measure and mark 27 inches from either end of the gutter to find the center. Consequently the soil can get too hot in the summer in many places and too cold in the winter. Overwintering strawberry towers or winterizing strawberry plants planted in gutters or pipe systems is more difficult.