This container has holes in the bottom and is set on a bed of red cedar woodchips. You can see numerous runners on the mulch that are hanging down from the main wild strawberry plant.
When I was at my Mom’s admiring her new raised-bed vegetable gardens, she mentioned she wanted to get some strawberry plants. As we walked by the garage I noticed many wild strawberry plants growing from the woods onto the gravel. She had no idea they were there.
A hanging basket holds more wild strawberries.
Mom lives in the country at a higher elevation than me. I dug up some wild strawberry plants to cultivate at my suburban apartment. Some were put in hanging baskets and some were put in planters. They will be planted permanently in a raised-bed garden next year after the fruit is harvested.
This is a close up shot of some of the runners from the hanging basket.
An even closer shot of the runners reveals how they are growing on the trunk of the tree
Steps to Cultivating Wild Strawberries
1. Make sure they are wild strawberries.
Main wild strawberry plant with two runners hanging alongside the root system of the main plant.
2. When digging up a wild strawberry plant it is best to do this after the plants have produced their fruit in late July/early August. There will be runners on the main wild strawberry plant that can be planted as well.
Prepped container.
3. In order to plant the main wild strawberry plant in a container place some gravel in first. Add soil/compost mixture to within three inches of the top of the container.
Place main wild strawberry plant in container.
4. Make a shallow hole in center of pot. Add water/ fertilizer mixture (liquid fertilizer mixed with water). Fan out root system of main wild strawberry plant.
Top View of main wild strawberry plant with runners hanging over edge of container
Side view of runner plant hanging over side of pot. Notice the top of the runner has a new plant with roots already and the bottom of the runner has another new plant just starting.
5. Add soil only to bottom of the base of the wild strawberry plant. DO NOT cover base of the plant. Make sure runners are not buried.
Top view of main wild strawberry plant and runner wild strawberry plant.
6. Place another pot filled with soil next to container with main wild strawberry plant. Place runner across to new pot; place a very small amount of soil around the base of the runner plant. When the runner plant has rooted well, usually 4-6 weeks, the runner (the vine connecting main plant and runner plant) can be snipped. Now you have two main wild strawberry plants.
More Information
My favorite website for more information is In Mama’s Kitchen. If you click on Food is Art and scroll down to strawberries and click on it you will find Cliff Lowe has written different articles on wild strawberries and has several recipes. Included is an article titled Some strawberry facts you may or may not wish to know that I found interesting. Next year when my harvest comes in I am going to try his Freezer Strawberry Jam which sounds a lot easier to make than the traditional way of canning.
Vegetarians Paradise
has an informative section on Taming the Wild Strawberry. Topics include Nutrition, History, Recipes, Folklore, Medical Benefits and more.
This article Strawberries, Modern and Medieval tells some of the history of the strawberry.
The Gardner’s Handbook
Click Here!
“In seed time, learn; in harvest, teach; in winter, enjoy.”
- William Blake
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