Strawberry plant weeding
Edward wrote:
Hi!
We have a small garden (approx. 10' x 20') in our back yard with some
strawberries in it. I'm in Southern California, and right now it's a
combination of weeds, dead grass, and green strawberry plants.
My question is, can I mow that area & not kill the strawberries?
Mowing is the easiest way to clear it out, but keeping those plants
healthy enough to produce fruit is of paramount importance. If it'll
harm them, we'll just have to dig in there & pull weeds.
Thanks in advance.
mowing will not kill the strawberries, but it
won't help them either.
the strawberries need those leaves to make
the fruit. you'll reduce or eliminate the crop
by cutting them back.
leaving the weeds in reduces the nutrients
and moisture that the strawberries can get at.
so best to carefully weed around the plants
you wish to encourage fruit from.
a practical approach to rejuvinating the
patch is to pick a few areas where the most
strawberry plants remain and clear out as
many weeds as possible around those plants.
then add some composted manure (not fresh
manure!) and then mulch over that. this
will help keep the weeds down.
the remaining area i would turn under and
then plant a cover crop as soon as conditions
are suitable. adding organic mulch to keep
the weeds down and help build the soil
fertility for future years. the strawberries
will spread into these areas as they grow.
eventually you will want to rotate the
entire patch in sections so you can keep up
with the heavy feeding demands by either
ammending or cover cropping.
songbird
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