Strawberries are perfectly sweet and juicy fruits, also known as one of the best summer delights. They need light maintenance in the summer at the end of their growing season. But have you ever wondered how to prune strawberries to have their thriving growth? Pruning strawberries is easy as these plants do not require much care throughout their growth.
If your strawberries have begun to grow, it is important to maintain them as they require utmost care at this stage. You will have to prune or cut back the runners during this period. This will later result in health growth of the plant and enhanced fruit production. In this blog, we have unveiled different aspects of strawberry plant pruning and trimming and their positive effects on the plant. Let’s get started!
Why Should You Prune Your Strawberries
Strawberries are perennial plants whose first order of business is to bloom and produce maximum fruits full of seeds to spread the next crop. After spreading the crop, the plant focuses on putting all the energy into growing runners instead of increasing the size of the mother plant. When you prune a strawberry plant, it redirects the energy. It focuses on the development of the mother plant and helps it develop and grow its multiple crowns, ensuring larger future crops.
Pruning strawberry plants is necessary as it helps remove useless leaves and other diseases from the plants. In this way, you can remove the plant’s dead or other useless parts within the plant’s life cycle instead of planting the whole fruit again. If you notice that the growth of the plants is weak, you can cut the first two flowers’ clusters, increasing the plant’s vigor.
When to Prune a Strawberry Plant
You can prune your strawberry plant during its growing season i.e., from late summer till the start of Autumn. When the plants have finished producing fruits, it’s time to remove the old foliage from the plant and help the plant grow new parts effectively. Pruning becomes necessary at the end of the growing season of strawberries. It is the best time to prune them with the help of sharp pairs of scissors. Pruning is probably best done in July when summer peaks and most strawberries appear throughout the first growing season.
Pruning the blossoms of the day-neutral and everbearing plant types is best during the growing season, probably in the first year of planting. After pruning, these flowers are set for bearing fruits during the growing season. You need to remove the flower stalks with the help of your forefinger and thumb and ensure that you are doing the process with utter delicacy. Furthermore, remove the dead or old foliage with care to promote the growth of these varieties.
What You Need for Pruning Strawberries
Pruning your strawberry plant is easy, and you probably don’t need many tools. There are two methods of pruning your strawberry plant. You can twist and break them with the help of your fingers delicately or use the tools to trim and cut the strawberries. If you are using your fingers to remove the flower and other dead foliage from the plant, you will need the following;
- Gloves to remove the dead part without contaminating your skin.
- Dustbin to keep all the useless matter inside it.
You can also prune with the help of tools to get a clearer experience. For this type of pruning, you will need the following;
- A sharp pair of scissors or pruning shears to cut dead foliage nearly.
- Disinfectant to clean the tools during pruning.
Strawberries Pruning Vs Trimming
Strawberry trimming and pruning are different in their process. To trim strawberries, you must trim the small trails and shots on the main plant, known as runners. It is important to trim these back to the mother plant. In this way, you will not remove all the essential nutrients from the mother plant.
Different gardeners use different strategies; some leave the runners on the June bearing strawberries, but it does not make much difference. Runners are also helpful in creating new plants. Runners are also called daughter plants and hit the soil for rooting. You can easily detach and remove them from the mother plant when they root to the ground.
On the other hand, pruning means removing the dead and diseased parts of the plant to enhance the growth of your plants. When you remove the plant’s dead foliage and other dead leaves, the plant will eliminate all the useless components. Trimming a strawberry plant is better to be done when the plant is actively growing.
Trimming the foliage will help maintain the desired size and shape. Ensuring the cuts are clean and done at the appropriate angle when trimming is important. It is also important to avoid over-trimming the plant as this can cause damage to the foliage.
How to Trim a Strawberry Plant
Trimming a strawberry plant is not a tough process, it is like removing runners from the plant. Removing more than one-third of the plant yearly is better if you are trimming to free up some space and reduce some of its sizes. If pruning your strawberry plant is to help it grow more fully, you must trim the end to one to two segments from its stems. Cutting more than that will reduce their size, and you won’t be able to grow the plant as you want to. You can trim your plant using the following way:
- First identify or analyze all the extra runners or trailing stems of the strawberry plant.
- Carefully select up to 2 runners of the plant that you want to use later for the propagation.
- Now, remove the extra runners near the base of the mother plant with the help of sharp scissors.
How to Prune Strawberries Plant
Here are some basic tips and a step-by-step guide to help you prune your strawberry plant;
Step 1: Choosing the Right Time for Pruning
It is important to save the green, healthy leaves throughout the whole growing season of strawberries. It is necessary to leave all the perfectly healthy and green leaves as they are functional. So avoid removing them.
There are different regions of plants where there is high manufacturing of fruit. If you remove these plants, it will decrease the yield of your strawberry plant more prominently. The time of year for pruning does not matter, but you must reserve this specifically for the strawberry plant’s brown or other diseased leaves.
Step 2: Mow June-Bearing Strawberries After the Harvest
After one week from the harvest, it is time to mow the June-bearing strawberries inches above the plant’s crown. After mowing once, there is no need to mow for the next whole year. If you try to do anything earlier than that, it will do nothing but destroy the plant badly.
Take a rake and clean up all the debris after mowing the grass and preventing diseases. It is also recommended to avoid mowing the late-season strawberries harvested during the last week of July.
Step 3: Cut the Plant
Now, remove the foliage from the plant. You can snip and remove the foliage up to 4 inches above the crowns. It is best to get rid of the foliage that provides the room. More leaves will help kick-start the growth of the plant. It is best to cut the old leaves from your plant; it will help eliminate the dead weight of the plant. When the leaves are old, they become useless and stop their contribution to making carbohydrates.
They keep absorbing the water and nutrients, and removing these plants is best. The old and dead leaves are yellow, with no air circulation. If the stems are long, they are old plants; you must cut them at the base.
Step 4: Remove the Runners
There are different varieties of strawberries, and they create runners. Removing these runners and preventing the plants from wasting nutrients is important. You need to ensure that the running conditions are optimum. You can also create daughter plants with runners and then detach them. It is important to cut the flowers when the clusters are small, and if you want vegetative growth.
Step 5: Remove Strawberries and Slice Off Crowns
It is best to keep the number of strawberries low to reduce competition between the plants and foster large fruits. Carefully analyze the amount of fruits to consider which technique works best for your plant. As the strawberry plant can create a crown, it is best to avoid the pruning of the younger crowns hindering the plant’s growth.
How Often do I Need to Prune my Strawberries
After a successful cutting or pruning of your plant, repeat the process every year during the growing season of your plant. You can do this every year in the late summer or autumn after completing the fruit cycle. It is the best time of the year to prune and remove the old foliage.
(Expert Tip: While pruning is a vital activity for the strawberry plant, however, its requirements are different for various varieties of strawberry plants. So, first, check the requirements according to your plant variety and then do its pruning at its suitable time and frequency.)
What to do with the Discarded Strawberries Leaves
There are a lot of things that you can do with discarded strawberry leaves. You can use the leftover leaves in the compost. The addition of these leaves in a compost pile is a valuable addition to the soil. Another way of utilizing these discarded leaves is to use them as mulch. This mulch around other plants in your yards retains moisture for them and also subdues weeds.
Post-Pruning Care of Strawberries
The plant needs suitable pruning aftercare, and you can take care of your plant through the following ways:
- Removing the clippings from the bed is best when you are done pruning, as it encourages disease. You can compost or discard these clippings.
- After that fertilize the plants, which will help put some energy and nutrition into the new buds for successful crops. You can also use a commercial organic fertilizer containing high potassium and wood ash.
- Maintain a suitable watering routine for the plant to help it recover.
Final Verdict: Can you Prune Strawberry Plants
Yes, if you have a lawn full of strawberry plants, it is best to prune and trim them in time. If you have a large patch of strawberries, using a lawn mower and setting it to the tallest cut to prune your plan is best. It is probably done at the end of the growing season to ensure the fruit season is complete. Pruning is necessary to enhance the plant’s growth and remove the possibility of pests and other diseases. You can prune your strawberry plant with the help of useful information given in the article above. So, read the complete article and be an expert gardener!
FAQs
1. Can You Prune Strawberries?
Yes, pruning of strawberry plants is necessary to keep them healthy. You can prune your plant usually in late summer or autumn. The best time to prune your strawberries is when the fruit has finished fruiting, and it is also a good time for its trimming. However, the best pruning times for various varieties of strawberry plants may differ.
2. What Can I Do With the Discarded Strawberry Leaves?
The best way to use the discarded leaves of strawberry plant is to add them in a compost pile. Furthermore, you can also use them as mulch around your garden plants to help them retain moisture for longer.
3. What Can I Do With the Runners of the Strawberry Plant?
You can use the runners to propagate new strawberry plants by allowing them to root in the soil. After the establishment of its own root system, gently separate it from the mother plant. Now, transfer this plant to a new pot or location.