If you're a strawberry lover and seek some berry variation in your gardens, raised beds and landscape this year, try planting different types of strawberry plants. You'll not only have plants that bear strawberries with different colors and flavor profiles, you can extend your growing season, too.
Some strawberry plants bear fruits reliably in June and July, while others can produce delicious berries right up until frost. And there are even plants you can use as interesting ground cover, too.
Strawberries in June (and July, too)
The most common strawberry type is known as the "June-bearing," and — as its name purports — this one grows in spring and fruits in summer. These are the kinds of strawberries you'll find at the grocery store and at most "pick-your-own" spots in summertime.
June-bearing strawberry plants set their flowers based on day length and send out lots of runners, which bear plentiful large berries in June and July. If you plant this one, note that it needs two seasons to bear fruit. In its first year in your garden or raised bed, you'll pinch the developing flowers. Removing those blooms will send energy and nutrients to the strawberry plants' roots and help grow fruit in its second year.
Once they get established, get ready for lots of fruit! These are sort of like the zucchini plants of the berry world, so if you're okay with a short growing season — think two to four weeks — and then all the fruits becoming ripe at once, plant this type!
Within the June-bearing kind, there are early-, mid- and late-season varieties. Try planting early-season ones that bear large fruit and grow well in our region such as, "Wendy," "Cavendish" and "Cabot."
Don't know if it's day or night (and don't care)
Another kind of strawberry plant is known as "day-neutral," which means it's insensitive to the changing length of days as the growing season progresses. This one keeps producing flowers and fruit well past July and even right up until the first freeze occurs.
Day-neutral strawberry plants don't send out as many runners and can be a bit more finicky to grow, but if you plant them in containers or even a small garden space like a perennial flower garden, they will grow well. Look for varieties like, "Evie 2," "Tribute," and "Seascape."
Strawberries gone wild
The third group of strawberry plants to plant this season fall into the "wild and unusual" camp. Plant these berries for color and taste variation or use them on your lawn or under shrubs and trees as edible ground cover.
"Purple Wonder" strawberries bear burgundy-colored, sweeter-than-average fruits, while "Pineberry" grows white fruits with small red seeds that boast a pineapple flavor.
When it comes to the wild variety, woodland or Alpine strawberries will produce smaller berries all summer long. And if you're toying with idea of having less grass and more plants on your lawn, wild strawberries make good ground cover.
In Charlie Nardozzi's, The Continuous Vegetable Garden, he suggests creating an "edible landscape" using strawberries. These fast-growing plants are perfect to add to the understory.
Plus, you can plant strawberries beneath shrubs and trees for added interest. They'll send out lots of runners and fill in spaces quickly, and the plants won't compete for nutrients.
What is eating the pole beans
Q: I’ve been growing Romano pole beans for years now. They’re one of the main reasons that I garden, as they are almost impossible to find fresh. I also plant some thin green beans now, as well as peas - all in the same area. I’ve never had any problems with them until a couple of years ago, when almost half of one row got chewed down by something when they were maybe a foot tall. I’m planting them in raised beds - two, 12-foot-by-2-foot beds - parallel, with a hoop-shaped structure connecting them - forming a tall ‘bean tunnel.’ For this reason, I have not been rotating the beds, as it just doesn’t work in my small garden. Someone has suggested that the soil has likely built up a high level of nitrogen, which is attracting nitrogen-loving pests. I have been trying to come up with a workable plan for switching beds, but it would need to involve planting something else in those beds (maybe tomatoes or cucumbers?), and I am concerned that they would end up getting attacked by whatever it is instead. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! - Jean, via email
A: The damage to your pole beans sounds like an animal as small as a mouse or as large as a deer. The likely culprit here is a rabbit or a woodchuck.
To mitigate this, try adding fencing around the raised beds. Put up fencing that goes into the ground, and angle it away from the bottom part of the raised bed, and add soil or mulch to keep it in place.
Using this fencing method helps, because when the rabbit or another critter encounters it, the animal will attempt to dig down into the soil to gain access to your garden. When they dig, they'll run into the fencing, get frustrated and leave your garden alone.
Slow-growing shrubs might need a change of venue
Q: I’ve been trying to increase the number of shrubs in my garden. The shrubs are weigela and winterberries mostly, good for my zone which can be 4A. I’ve had them for at least four years and they are growing so slowly. Should I move them to new spots, use fertilizer or just be patient? - Paulette, in Braintree Hill
A: Patience definitely works, but there are some things to try in the meantime! If your shrubs are slow-growing and not thriving, it could be due to insufficient sun or the wrong kind of soil.
If you have heavy clay soil that isn't well-drained, that would slow growth. Try a soil test to see if any nutrients are missing. Then, based on those results, you can either add fertilizer or move the shrubs to a different space, and now is a good time of year to move them to a place with better-drained soil.
Even though winter berries can grow in wetter soil, they do better with if it is very well-drained. Based on your growing zone, you might also try to move the shrubs to a more protected spot and see if those remedies help.
All Things Gardening is powered by you, our audience! Send us your toughest conundrums and join the fun. Email your question to gardening@vermontpublic.org or better yet, leave a voicemail with your gardening question so we can use your voice on the air! Call Vermont Public at 1-800-639-2192.
Listen to All Things Gardening Friday evenings at 5:44 p.m., or Sunday mornings at 9:35 a.m., and subscribe to the podcast to listen any time.
