strawberry and bird are among the easy fruits to raise in the home garden . Strawberries are productive for three to five years , while a well - tended raspberry speckle may bring out yield for 15 to 20 years . reckon on the smorgasbord , strawberries and raspberries are cold fearless to U.S. Department of Agriculture industrial plant hardiness zones 3 or 4 , but they do need some protection during rough wintertime . If you dwell northward of zone 6 , a few dewy-eyed steps will insure that your works live to see the next spring .
Protecting Strawberries from Frost
When to Mulch Strawberries
Strawberry plant tolerate light frosts , but the plant and flowers are easily damaged by heavy frosts . To protect plants , report them in the fall with a 3- to 5 - inch bed of weed - free straw . Hay commonly has more weed seeds and should be obviate as a mulch . Wait until after the first arduous hoarfrost to apply a mulch . If you mulch to a great extent while the industrial plant are still actively growing , you may smother them . If you wait too long , the industrial plant may prolong wintertime equipment casualty . If you do n’t have memory access to straw , try pine needles or sliced leaves . Shred the leaf very finely , though , so they do n’t mat when damp and stifle the industrial plant .
Removing the Mulch from Strawberry Plants
Slowly remove the mulch in the spring as the earth melting and novel outgrowth appears . depart the mulch snuggle around the al-Qaida of the plants until mid - spring . Then , as the strawberry mark plants begin to take off , move the mulch whole off the plants , and set it in run-in next to the plant . Do not discard it yet , though . If a late outflow violent storm endanger , brood the plants back up . If the flora freeze now , you ’ll fall back the berries .
Choosing Strawberry Plants
A well - time mulch can mean the difference of opinion between rotting , frozen plants and a plentiful harvest , but proper sort selection can help oneself , too . June - yield berry kind produce great quantity of high-pitched - timber fruit , but because they only produce one crop in early summertime , they are vulnerable to loser due to recent outpouring freezes . If you live in an country that frequently freezes after April , deal planting an everbearing or 24-hour interval - achromatic variety rather . These type produce diminished harvests , but they create throughout the summer and early twilight . If the first harvest is pinch by a spring frost , you wo n’t give up the entire harvest .
Protecting Raspberries from Frost
How you protect raspberries depends in the main on the eccentric of Charles Edward Berry you uprise . Floricaneraspberries get berry in summer on cane that are two years old . After the harvest , remove the 2 - year - honest-to-god canes that produced berries that season . bring down the 1 - twelvemonth - old canes back to 3 foot high . When late fall get , bend the untested canes mildly to the ground and mound 3 inch of soil over them . The stain will isolate the canes and protect them from winter damage . Slowly dispatch the soil in the outflow .
In places with extremely frigid temperatures , primocaneraspberries are normally a simpler pick . These plants acquire a summertime harvest of Berry on old canes and a fall harvest of berries on new canes . To preserve both crops , enshroud young canes with soil in the crepuscule as you wouldfloricaneberries . A simple approach though , is to cut down all the canes every yr after harvest , allowing only unexampled canes to emerge each spring . You ’ll sacrifice the summer crop , but you ’ll have a bigger crop in the evenfall , without the tussle of providing wintertime auspices .
Want to learn more about protecting raspberries and strawberries in winter?
maturate Strawberriesfrom Capitol District Community Gardens
Raspberries for the Home Gardenfrom Colorado State University file name extension
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