what to put under strawberries `

Weve cleared an area for strawberry plants at bottom of the garden and were going to put weed suppressant down and plant through it

Question we have is whats best to put on top of the suppressant , gravel or bark chips ?

We were of the thinking bark chips would look best bit would hold moisture and allow bugs to live in it and attack the fruit - hence thinking possibly gravel

What have folks used ?

Carl

 

I would put nothing. Get a good quality woven weed suppressing fabric, with some UV stabilisation and it will last a good 5 years. If you put Bark or anything on top you will get some weeds growing in it.

I would put straw on top, during the fruiting season, to keep the fruit in really good condition, but its not essential.

If your strawberry bed needs to "look smart" then bark / gravel / etc. "to taste"

 

I use the 'Big Crisp' containers with a hole cut into the base through which I tease the plant at an early stage. This keeps the leaves off the soil and keeps the slugs off but I have no idea why!

Cheers, Tony.

 

Mypex is one of the names for that stuff, about 50p/m2 on ebay, there's no need to cover it and I would just brush it each year and avoid putting straw down for slugs to hide in and possibly also attracting mice who have the habit of nibbling off the strawberries.

 

that's the kind of stuff weve got but its white - just wanted to make it look a it better as its behind a seating area in the orchard

 

I never knew it also came in white, is it like this? White mulch sheet is actually supposed to be good stuff to grow strawberries through, but is normally polythene sheet white one side and black on the other, laid white side up.

 

this is white one side silver the other - ill go take a piccy

 

My wife raked up a load of pine needles/pine straw which we will be trying under the plants on my first attempt to grow strawberries. I put in 2 dozen which were tiny, dead looking, crowns and they have come up! Many of them are nice small plants now. (planted 6 weeks ago)

Actually most never came up because they were dead and I pulled them up, put them back into the bags they came in (two bags of 12 each but I put 6 dead in each bag) and returned them for two bags of more dead looking more crowns. Between those 4 dozen I got 2 dozen coming up. The ones on the second group are tiny.

 

White on the top, to reflect light onto the plants, and black on the bottom - to prevent light getting to the weeds - is that the one?

 

ive been talking horse feathers - it was double wrapped - its black but its wrapped insomething that looks identical and is white one side and silver the other - that's only 4 foot x 6 - im sire ill find a use for it

 

I have some plastic sheeting, white one side and black t'other.

Cheers, Tony.