One of home gardening’s most gratifying benefits is the supply of fresh fruits or vegetables during summer.  Most fruit lovers agree that the flavor of a homegrown strawberry is hard to beat.  Perhaps one of John Clark’s chin dripping peaches could come close, but while requiring less space and maintenance, strawberries are the more practical choice for the home gardener.    

Generally, there are three types of strawberries, which are based on flowering cycle:  June bearing, ever bearing, and day neutral.  June bearing types, which are usually larger than ever bearing and day neutral types, produce a single crop per year during a two to three week period in the late spring.  Ever bearing types produce two to three intermittent harvests during spring, summer, and fall and have fewer runners than June bearing types.  Day neutral types produce fruit throughout the growing season and also produce fewer runners than June bearing strawberries. 

The ever bearing and day neutral types sound good in theory, but the heat of our Arkansas summer tends to interrupt the flowering cycle, which results in reduced overall yield that’s spread out between two harvests; one in spring and one in fall.  Thus, my recommendation is to choose several varieties of June bearing types with successive ripening times.  This will provide you with larger supply of fresh strawberries for three to four weeks in the spring.  A few June bearing varieties to look for are: ‘Early Glow’ (early season), ‘Del Marvel’ (late season), ‘Chandler’ (mid-season), ‘Cardinal’ (mid season), ‘Surecrop’ (early-mid season), and others.

Since June bearing strawberries send out a lot of runners, planting in a matted row system works best.  Stagger the plants in rows about eighteen inches apart.  Good drainage and planting at the appropriate depth are essential to achieving success with strawberries.  Plant strawberries in a well drained soil with high organic matter and be sure not to plant them too deep.  The crown of the strawberry plant should be right at, or slightly above soil level.

During the first year of growth strawberry flower buds should be pinched off in an effort to encourage growth of the root system.  I realize this is difficult for most gardeners.  However, this practice will pay off next year with healthier plants and a better harvest. 

Strawberries should be mulched to suppress weeds and also to protect against frost during the early spring.  Straw, hence the name “strawberry”, is the mulch of choice. 

Strawberries will need approximately an inch of rainfall per week; especially during the fruiting season.   After harvest the strawberry bed should be renovated by thinning plants to approximately eight to ten inches apart.  After thinning the bed, apply a nitrogen fertilizer to encourage runner development.  Again, maintain irrigation throughout the hot and dry periods of summer to keep the plants growing vigorously. 

Check out Cooperative Extension’s publication, Fact sheet 6103
Growing Strawberries in the Home Garden for more information.  The fact sheet can be accessed through our searchable database online at http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/.