I bought straw to go round strawberries a couple of years ago. I don't know whether I bought the wrong sort but it had seeds left in it. Looked lovely for a week - then every last one of those seeds germinated... Took weeks to clear the bed
I would opt for membrane or coarse bark chippings now. I actually just left them as is for the last 2 years & stuck a few sticks in to try to keep the heaviest stems off the wet soil. Lost a few to wet soil contact but still more than enough for us and the voles.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Straw would let any wet drain through. That's why it's used as bedding for horses in their stables, it lets the wee drain through and the horses stay dry!
I have access to loads of fir cones and tuck these under the fruits as needed. This keeps them off the soil, and seems to help save them from slug damage in wet summers.
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
good morning everyone, I just wanted to check before i head to the garden centre...
Topbird mentions using coarse bark, what do you think?
my strawberries are mixed in the borders. I tried straw a couple of years ago but it didn't look too good and ended up blown or moved by the birds and cat... I also tried the fabric looking membrane which was very good but i left it too late this year. So coarse bark, yes or no?
Having just taken delivery of 2 different lots of bark I would say this:
I had a bulk 1 cubic metre delivery of ornamental pine bark intended for play areas (to make paths in my fruit bed) It was dry, large nuggets of pine bark, smelt lovely and would be perfect to put under strawberries to keep them clean and dry.
I needed a tiny bit more to finish of the job I was doing - so went to Homebase yesterday and got a 100 litre bag of play area bark - supposed to be large chunks.
When I opened it it was wet, slimy, didnt smell so good and was bark shreddings (rather than nuggets) and was full of bits of wood.
I was able to mix it in with the other nuggets so it didn't matter for me - but that would not have been any good at all under strawberries - no better than the original idea of grass cuttings.
Havng suggested the idea - I would now say only use the large nuggets. You need to be able to see what's in the bags...
Last edited: 11 June 2016 08:24:48
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Thank you for the advice. My GC has a display area so you can see all barks and composts. Looking for large nuggets and no slimy muchroom growing bark ?
I had to laugh at that cos my bag of forest bark also came from B&Q have not opened it yet so thanks for the tip.. I hope the mushrooms were edible ones...
I used to pick strawberries for a farmer, we had straw scattered between the row.. made my life easier kneeling down picking.. But why do you reckon they are called Strawberries ...
Grass would be a hiding place for Slugs who lurve strawberries... and spoil the look with big holes bored in the fruit..
The Straw lwas spread each side of the rows and it dried out fast after watering too..
My Strawberries are grown inplantersoff the ground so less chance of soil pests and I am looking forward to some fresh Strawberry harvesting in the next week or so..Mmmm
Posts
Grass goes slimy & horrible when wet
I bought straw to go round strawberries a couple of years ago. I don't know whether I bought the wrong sort but it had seeds left in it. Looked lovely for a week - then every last one of those seeds germinated... Took weeks to clear the bed
I would opt for membrane or coarse bark chippings now. I actually just left them as is for the last 2 years & stuck a few sticks in to try to keep the heaviest stems off the wet soil. Lost a few to wet soil contact but still more than enough for us and the voles.
Straw would let any wet drain through. That's why it's used as bedding for horses in their stables, it lets the wee drain through and the horses stay dry!
I have access to loads of fir cones and tuck these under the fruits as needed. This keeps them off the soil, and seems to help save them from slug damage in wet summers.
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
good morning everyone, I just wanted to check before i head to the garden centre...
Topbird mentions using coarse bark, what do you think?
my strawberries are mixed in the borders. I tried straw a couple of years ago but it didn't look too good and ended up blown or moved by the birds and cat... I also tried the fabric looking membrane which was very good but i left it too late this year. So coarse bark, yes or no?
Thank you very much
Julie
Having just taken delivery of 2 different lots of bark I would say this:
I had a bulk 1 cubic metre delivery of ornamental pine bark intended for play areas (to make paths in my fruit bed) It was dry, large nuggets of pine bark, smelt lovely and would be perfect to put under strawberries to keep them clean and dry.
I needed a tiny bit more to finish of the job I was doing - so went to Homebase yesterday and got a 100 litre bag of play area bark - supposed to be large chunks.
When I opened it it was wet, slimy, didnt smell so good and was bark shreddings (rather than nuggets) and was full of bits of wood.
I was able to mix it in with the other nuggets so it didn't matter for me - but that would not have been any good at all under strawberries - no better than the original idea of grass cuttings.
Havng suggested the idea - I would now say only use the large nuggets. You need to be able to see what's in the bags...
Last edited: 11 June 2016 08:24:48
My bark from B&Q keeps growing mushrooms.....
Thank you for the advice. My GC has a display area so you can see all barks and composts. Looking for large nuggets and no slimy muchroom growing bark ?
I used to pick strawberries for a farmer, we had straw scattered between the row.. made my life easier kneeling down picking.. But why do you reckon they are called Strawberries ...
Grass would be a hiding place for Slugs who lurve strawberries... and spoil the look with big holes bored in the fruit..
Last edited: 11 June 2016 21:57:58
Use dry straw, then once you have picked all the fruit, mix the straw with the grass clippings and dump it on the compost heap
The Straw lwas spread each side of the rows and it dried out fast after watering too..
My Strawberries are grown inplantersoff the ground so less chance of soil pests and I am looking forward to some fresh Strawberry harvesting in the next week or so..Mmmm