aerial view of the bed
the net
First berry!
A few more details about my little berry patch this year-- Last year we tried growing strawberries for the first time. I say “tried” because things didn’t go so well. Some of the plants produced small, bitter berries, and the birds and squirrels ate most of the ones that were left.
This year we’re trying again. We bought plants about three weeks ago and put them in a raised bed that we used for squash last year. We thought this would give the berries more room to spread out, and we rigged a net over the top of it to keep birds and squirrels out. Bees and other small pollinators can still get through the holes, and we have a way of lifting some of the net to reach the plants and pick fruit.
Some of the plants have blooms already and we picked the first strawberry a few days ago! (I’ve been playing with the photo editing software to get those faded edges, but the blurriness is total operator error).
Do you grow strawberries, and if so, what are your tips for growing productive plants?
I grow strawberries as groundcover. Critters eat the berries, sometimes I get one first.
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting my Wild Butterfly Gardens of native plants. I do sometimes get hummingbirds. I stopped hanging up sugar water for them, they nectar on camellias on first arrival in spring and later on such delights as Shrimp plant. I hear them sometimes in the trees across the road in woods' edge.
Tithonia is a good annual plant to sow seed now. Both hummers and butterflies will visit it.
Great, thanks for the tip on the tithonia!
ReplyDeleteAngela I like that net idea, it's great! I'm getting of to a slow start because spring is very late getting here in Michigan, We are still in the low 50's and 60's with lots of cool rain. "oh well I'll do the best I can.. I'll check back later to see how things go with your berries and net.
ReplyDeleteThe setup you've got looks ideal! I just covered my little patch with bird netting today, as the flower petals are beginning to drop.
ReplyDelete