Mulch needed to protect strawberries
Q. How can I take care of my strawberry plants to get them through the winter?
A. Strawberry plants need to be mulched once they go dormant in late fall. This is when the temperature dips and the cold winds pick up.
The freezing and thawing that occurs over winter can cause damage to exposed roots, crowns and flower buds, which set in the fall. That can truly reduce the strawberry patch come June when the fruit would usually be coming in.
A weed-free straw mulch will protect them when the temperature and wind chill begins to get down to the frost level, below freezing but still above 20 degrees. In our area, this is usually in either mid to late November or early December.
The plant crowns and all leaves need to be covered with a 2 to 4 inch mulch of straw. You may need to start with more than 4 inches to cover everything and allow for wind and weather to tamp down the straw over the plants. You want to break off sections of the straw bale and shake them over the plants to distribute the mulch over the tops and down the sides of each plant.
If you have raised beds with strawberry plants, you will have to put more mulch in place because the beds will get colder than ground level. You will need 6 to 8 inches of straw to ensure adequate protection.
If your bed or raised beds are in an area that is exposed to a lot of wind, you will need to ensure the mulch stays in place by adding fencing, or another form of wind block.
Once spring comes and the threat of frost is reduced, you can pull the straw off the tops of the plants. You can leave the straw over flower buds and between the plants as a weed discourager and place for the fruit to rest.
- Nancy Degnan
• Provided by Master Gardeners through the Master Gardener Answer Desk, Friendship Park Conservatory, Des Plaines, and University of Illinois Extension, North Cook Branch Office, Arlington Heights. Call (847) 298-3502 on Wednesdays or email northcookmg@gmail.com. Visit web.extension.illinois.edu/mg.