In the Garden: Growing Day-Neutral Seascape Strawberries

I’ve heard of Junebearing strawberries (which is the only thing my dad grows), I’ve heard of everbearing strawberries (in my opinion seedy and bland in flavor), but it was not until a few months ago I found out about day-neutral strawberries. More specifically Seascape Strawberries. Just the name alone made me want to do more research and to try these strawberries in my garden!

So, I did my research, found a way to make an empty garden bed in my plot plan, and placed my order for Seascape Strawberries with Burpee.  

My husband, dad and I recently made some raised garden beds out of a reclaimed cedar fence (blog post to come soon).  I designated a 4×4 raised bed for my Seascape strawberries.  This 4×4 bed was actually my existing garden bed from last year so the only thing I did was amend my garden soil with a bag of manure/hummus/compost blend from my local gardening store.

I was so excited when my strawberry plants arrived. I brought them right over to my dad’s to show him and he was very impressed with how healthy they looked. Good job Burpee! The day they arrived was perfect planting conditions for strawberries (I’ve read to choose a cool/overcast day when planting).

Here are a few tips for if you choose to add Seascape Strawberries to your garden plans!

• The week you are going to plant your strawberries, amend the soil with compost. Make sure it isn’t fresh compost (I purchased a bag of composted manure/hummus)
• I read you can plant day-neutrals as close to 6 inches apart.  My instructions that came with my strawberries said 12 inches apart.  I decided to plant my 25 plants evenly spaced at about 8-9 inches apart so I could fit all 25 in my 4×4 garden bed.
• I dug little holes in a neat grid 8-9 inches apart and about 2-3 inches deep.  When planting, I tried my best to spread the roots out and made sure the crown was above soil level.
• I filled back in the holes with soil bringing the soil level right up to the crown (you could tell where the soil level had previously been on my strawberry plants.)
• Mulch your freshly planted strawberry plants with a thin layer of straw.  Use straw as hay has seeds and according to my dad will just create weeds.

I also added the following dates to my grow calendar:

• In 5 weeks (or when I start seeing new growth), fertilize the strawberries with a fertilizer meant for berries.  I chose: Winchester Gardens Select Organics Berry Granular Fertilizer, 3-Pound Bag
   
• As soon as I see blossoms forming (about 6 weeks after planting), snip off the blossoms for the next 5-6 weeks to encourage healthy root growth.

Other then keeping well watered that is the information I have gathered! I should supposively see a nice crop towards the end of the summer even though this is the strawberries first year.  We shall see! Will this be a death experiment or a juicy success…only time will tell.

With Love, Jennifer

You can read more about the differenced between everbearing and day-neutral strawberries at  http://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-everbearing-dayneutral-strawberries-43384.html

This post contains some affiliated links. However, I have not been paid to test this product nor was I given this product as a sample. I purchased this product for my own personal use and plan on giving honest feedback (whether good, bad or ugly) on the product(s) mentioned.