Useful Tips for Planting a Backyard Berry Patch

There are three types of strawberries: June-bearers, which produce one big crop a year; ever-bearers, which produce two crops, one in the summer and one later in the fall; and day-neutrals, which produce small berries throughout the growing season. The thought of having a continuous harvest always had me choosing day-neutrals in the past, but once I planted a patch full of June-bearing strawberries and reaped a generous harvest of beautiful, ripe berries, I officially became a June-bearing strawberry convert.

June-bearing strawberries, especially if you start with a large number of plants, will provide you with bigger fruit, a bigger yield and a crop that has a large quantity of fruit ready at one time.

A well-maintained strawberry patch will be productive for three to five years. Since they really need well-draining soil, a raised bed can be a great place to grow strawberries. Make sure when you plant them to keep the crown — the place where the foliage begins to grow — level with the soil. The top roots should be just below the soil surface and aiming downward to give them a good start. A June-bearing strawberry patch also benefits greatly from a pruning process called renovation, which should happen soon after your last harvest.