What to Do With Strawberry Plants in April – 5 Key Tasks for Huge Harvests and Sweeter Fruits This Summer
Taking action in early spring is essential for healthy and productive strawberry plants
April can be a make-or-break month to set up your strawberry plants for summer. If you wonder what to do with strawberry plants in April that will make a big difference, here are five key tasks you need to know.
It is a time to tidy and weed beds, fertilize and mulch plants, and even protect the delicate flowers from late frosts. Following these steps in early spring will reward you with healthier plants, larger harvests, and bigger, sweeter strawberries come summer.
Article continues below1. Clean and Tidy Plants to Prevent Disease
Cleaning and tidying strawberries in April gets them off to a great start to the year – it is highly recommended for healthy, productive strawberry plants. Older plants can get swamped or matted in beds, so take some time to remove dead, damaged, or old leaves and any debris around the base of each plant.
All that excess plant material from last year can harbor disease and be a home for slugs and snails. Bacteria, fungal spores, or pests can overwinter in old foliage and wreak havoc on new growth.
It does not take long to tidy up plants this month to avoid potential strawberry diseases. Use a pair of clean, sharp pruning shears (such as these sharp Japanese pruning shears at Amazon) or scissors to trim away old foliage and cut strawberries back.
Leave 3-4 inches of top growth, being extra careful not to accidentally damage any new growth emerging from the crown in spring.
Any old strawberry runners should be removed as they’ll take energy from the main plants. You can divide strawberries by potting these runners up, and you’ll get new plants for free.
2. Weed Strawberry Beds
A strawberry bed may still have weeds remaining from last year, plus new weeds grow quickly in spring. April is a perfect time to get rid of weeds.
Doing so stops them from stealing water and nutrients from your strawberries and ensures they don’t spread and dominate over the berry plants.
Weeds can be quickly removed in spring. Eliminating young weeds is a simple job, and it’ll stop them from seeding, so you don’t face many generations of weeds this year.
A hand fork, or a weeding tool like this one at Amazon, should be the go-to weeder type for removing weeds from strawberry beds. Tap-rooted weeds, such as dandelions, need the entire root removed; otherwise, they’ll sprout again.
If you get on top of weeds early, it will often be as simple as going over beds with a garden hoe for the rest of the season to nip off weed seedlings as they germinate.
3. Fertilize Plants
Strawberries burst into life in spring. It is a time of year when the plants need lots of energy to grow leaves, flowers, and berries. As they start growing when the soil reaches around 50˚F, April is a peak time for growth.
Gardeners will massively benefit their plants by fertilizing strawberries this month, giving plants the nutrients they need at this prime time of the season. Feeding plants this month helps you grow bigger strawberries and enjoy a better yield this year.
Apply a balanced, slow-release fertilizer in April, such as this 10-10-10 all-purpose plant food from Walmart. Spread the granular fertilizer at the recommended rates around the plant, gently fork it into the soil, and water well to activate the ingredients.
Stick to balanced feeds and avoid high nitrogen ones. Too much nitrogen encourages strawberries to put on lots of lush foliage, rather than develop fruit.
4. Protect Flowers From Late Frosts
Late spring frosts can lessen your crop of strawberries. The plants themselves are hardy enough to shake off a frost, but the blossoms are delicate and can be killed when temperatures dip.
Flowers that have opened can be killed if the temperatures drop below 30°F. But there are simple ways you can protect plants from frost and ensure you have strawberries to pick in early summer.
Keep a close eye on forecasts and be prepared to act if a late frost is due. The simplest measure is to cover plants with frost cloth (like these plant covers at Amazon), row covers, burlap, or cloches (such as this polycarbonate mini greenhouse at Wayfair).
Put the covers in place on the afternoon ahead of the cold nights, and remove them during the day once the temperatures have risen so pollinators can access the flowers.
5. Replace Winter Mulch With a Summer One
Many gardeners lay a few inches of mulch in the fall to winterize strawberry plants, as it can protect the crown from freezing temperatures and smother weeds. It is a proven way to overwinter the plants and prevent them from succumbing to winter harm, but it is best to see it as a temporary measure.
When the plants start growing in the spring, it is good practise to pull back that winter mulch as part of tidying up strawberry beds at the start of the season. Do this after the soil temperature reaches 40-50˚F and the plants show signs of new growth.
Replace the winter mulch with a new layer of straw, pine needles, or wood chips. This mulching layer should be laid around the plants, but pulled away from the crown. It will retain soil moisture, suppress weeds, and, perhaps more importantly, keep the fruit clean.
Strawberries sitting directly on the soil during the season get dirty and are more at risk of rotting, going moldy, or getting nibbled by slugs or snails.
You can get a box of long pine needle mulch at Walmart that is enough to cover 300 square feet
What to Shop
An attractive ceramic planter with eight pockets in which to plant your strawberries. The fruits will hang over the edges, be away from pests, and be easier to pick.
Sweet Kiss is a high-yielding variety with large, delicious strawberries. The small plants can grow in a bed or in a container on a deck, patio, or balcony.
This potting mix is perfect for planting strawberries in containers. It is specially formulated with nutrients to feed plants for up to six months.
Did you know that April is also a fantastic time to plant strawberries if you want to add to your existing collection? Once the frosts end in your climate, young plants will thrive in the cooler temperatures and moister soils of early spring.
You may wonder if you can harvest strawberries in the first year. The truth is that you may indeed get a small crop this summer, depending on the weather and the type of strawberry, and you can certainly pick any fruits that do appear. But keep expectations low, and focus on establishing the plants this year to get a bumper crop in years two and three.
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