This fruit plant will produce flowers, followed by lovely speckled-ruby strawberries for you to pick. Hardy throughout most of the UK, down to -20°C.
Grow your own strawberries with this strawberry plant, the perfect opportunity to start your own fruit garden! Strawberries don't need too much space, and will be happy to grow in a nice sunny spot in the ground or in a container in your garden. In the first couple of years, it's a good idea to cut back the runners so it uses all of its energy on producing fruits for you; you can start letting it produce runners after this to get the plant to spread, once it's a little bigger and more established. There's plenty to enjoy with this plant too, from its star-like blossoms in Spring to the fruit in Summer and Autumn. Fruits can be a target for pests like slugs and snails, so you may need to protect your strawberries. You can also harvest the fruit when it's still white and pop it indoors in a sunny window to fully ripen to red, which will help stop it being eaten by the other inhabitants of your garden!
Perennial | Fruit: bush/vine | Flowers in Spring, fruit in summer to autumn, foliage spring to autumn. |
Scientific Name
Fragaria x ananassa (strawberry plant, crossed with pineapple-like species)
Common Name
Strawberry, Garden Strawberry
Origin
There are native strawberries all over the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, including Britain; these strawberries are a cross between species from the Americas and Eurasia
Pruning Tips
Remove excess runners, especially while the plant is still small. Cut back old leaves.
Wildlife Value
Fragaria (wild strawberries) are great for pollinators, and provide forage for the Grizzled Skipper butterfly. Strawberries are pollinated by honeybees and bumblebees, and can attract Lassioglossum, Andrena, Halictus, Osmia and Nomada bees in the open.
Positioning
Full sun to partial shade
Water
Strawberries like their soil to be moist but not soggy, so make sure it's somewhere the water can drain from, and keep it watered in dry weather- especially when it's producing flowers and fruit!
Soil
Use fertile, moist, well-draining soil for growing strawberries.
Food
Put fresh compost through the soil before planting out to ensure your strawberry plant has enough nutrients. Fresh compost/ mulch annually should keep it happy and nourished!
Pet-safe
Yes- no toxicity reported, though it's best for the plant and your pets if they don't nibble too much!
Sprouts Top Tips
To protect your fruit, you can put netting around the plants in summer while they're fruiting, and surround them with straw or mats to prevent the fruit from sitting on bare soil (this is why they're called strawberries!). Alternatively, strawberries grow well in pots or hanging baskets, which will also help keep their fruit up off the ground.
I already have a few strawberry plants, but when I saw one of these sprouting a pretty pink flower, it was in my basket. All planted up and hopefully more flowers and fruit to come.
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Had a desire box was ok but one plant not potted.. others very small.. rescue box from else’s where bigger plants and stronger looking
Had to grab this one as the pastel green was so pretty. There is a water resivour at the bottom to stop plants sitting in water so its perfect for orchids but at the moment I'm using it for another plant.
Wanted one of these for ages so I had to jump at the size and price of this plant. Stunning large leaves and has already grown loads
Lovely little plant beautifully packaged. Arrived in perfect condition at a great price. Thank you so much :)
I bought a 'medium' and what arrived was a very generously sized plant which I was very happy with . Plant was in good condition, and was very carefully wrapped for shipping.