Gardening

Plant now for a berry tasty summer

At last Spring is upon us and our thoughts are racing ahead to brightening up the garden with pots stuffed with vibrant colours, encouraging wildlife to visit and buzz around.

Wouldn’t it be even better if along with flowers you could have juicy, sweet delights throughout the summer months?

I’m talking about growing your own strawberries. Who doesn’t look forward to that first taste of delicious summer?

Strawberries are an easy, fun crop to grow with children. Strawberry runners or young plants can be planted in Spring or Autumn. If you choose several different strawberry varieties that fruit in succession, this will give you a long season of scrummy, juicy strawberries from late May all the way through to Autumn. As always preparation is key and you will reap what you sow.

They will be happy in a sunny, well prepared bed, strawberry planter or even a hanging basket. Dig in plenty of well-rotted manure. Plant the strawberries so their roots are just buried, and about 30cm apart; firm the soil around them.

Water well for the first few weeks. Before the fruit starts to develop place some straw around the plants. This helps to keep the berries clean and deters slugs and snails. If you share your garden with a variety of wildlife you may benefit from covering with fruit netting.

After fruiting finishes, to encourage strong growth for next year’s crop, cut off foliage about 5cm above ground level and give plants a good feed with a general purpose fertiliser. After three to four years, the size and quality of the fruit declines so you will need to replace your plants with new stock. If the parent plant is throwing off runners, plant these into pots but leave them attached to the main plant. When they have good strong roots they can be separated and you have a new plant to start all over again.

Jobs to keep you busy in April

Keep weeds under control. Tie in climbing and rambling roses. Protect blossom on apricots, nectarines and peaches from late frosts. Prune winter-flowering shrubs that have finished flowering. Cerinthe, scrambled egg plant, quaking grass, poppies, calendula and lovein-a-mist can all be sown directly into well prepared soil - in a few weeks’ time you’ll have a splash of colour that will last until Autumn.

Dead head daffodils as flowers Beetroot, cabbage, carrots, fade to prevent bulbs putting cauliflowers and sprouting energy into producing seeds. Leave broccoli can be sown the foliage until it turns brown. outside. Ensure that the soil has been dug over to leave If you have a bare patch that you a fine finish that resembles need to fill fast, try sowing seeds breadcrumbs and is free of of hardy annuals. weeds and large stones. Take care, enjoy dodging the April showers and focus on putting your feet up in the summer months with a big bowl of homegrown strawberries and cream. By Suzi M, garden lover and plotter at Roundhill Allotments