How and When Should I Prune Strawberry Plants?

In the summer months, juicy sweet strawberries are one of the best delights you could have. Although these plants do not need serious pruning as other berry bushes do, they require simple maintenance in the summer towards the end of the season as they grow.

The strawberry plants give out runners with plantlets at the end, which end up getting a root whenever they touch the soil. If you want your berries to grow in patches, then free the runners and let them grow.

But if you want these new plants to get their power from the adult bush, then you will end up getting smaller fruits that you may not like.

Tips for Pruning Strawberry Plants

First Season Pinching and Trimming Back of Strawberry Plants

Get rid of the flower stalks of the strawberries, which grew out in June. You should get more berries if you let the plants grow in size before the fruiting. Let the flowers get fruit for the period of the season. Get rid of the flower stalks patiently with your forefinger and your thumb, and try as much as possible to prevent spoiling the stalk of the strawberry plant.

If you’re not sure of the type of strawberry you are pruning, you need to ask any berry pruner around for you to be specific.

Trimming the Runners

Cut back the runners from behind. These runners are little shoots and trails from the main berry plant. Cut these back to the original plant. This is necessary, so the important nutrients are not drained. Some berry pruners prefer to allow the runners to remain on strawberries from June. These work also, but a lot of the strawberry patch could be lost in their control and the quality of your berries would decline at a high rate.

Runners could also be used. When the runner begins, it would start rooting. And after it has properly rooted, lose it from its mother plant.

Post Season Trimming

At the end of the season of production, the strawberry plants should be pruned back to the end. Trim them about an inch higher than the soil, then run the streets with a lawnmower. Arrange the mower high so the plants will not be ripped from the roots.

This would keep them productive through the pruning season. Settle down and prune roots that are damaged, and cut very long roots to about 5 inches.

Winter Protection for the Strawberries

After mowing the berry plants, to protect the berries from injury through the winter, a huge layer of mulch is necessary. If the plants are not protected, the low temperatures from winter could easily kill the buds of the fruit and destroy the crowns and roots.

And this is how and when you should prune strawberry plants.

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Photo by Massimiliano Martini on Unsplash