[MalcW]

Hi all. I have a bed of strawberries that's looking somewhat untidy. The strawberries themselves seem healthy enough, and have been putting out runners, but the whole bed is rather scruffy looking, with a lot of low weeds in between them.
Tidying them up would be a long drawn out process, so since strawberries are pretty tough I'm tempted to dig them up, completely weed the bed, then replant them. Does this sound feasible? Is there anything else I should be doing while I'm at it?. They've been in that bed about a year and a half by the way.

Thanks.

[surbie100]

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me, though I'd probably leave it to spring. Am not so confident about ripping out even tough little strawberries at this time of year.

You could plant them back in through mypex to keep the weeds down in future.

[compostqueen]

You could perhaps give some away if you have too many.  Freecycle!

I would put manure down after a thorough weeding session

[MalcW]

You could perhaps give some away if you have too many.  Freecycle!

I would put manure down after a thorough weeding session

You can never have too many strawberries! Good idea about the manure, I shall do so. Thanks.

[Christine]

From my experience, tis a bit late in the year to go for digging up. I was always taught that August is the month. Last time I did it this late, I had a very reduced crop next summer.

Pot up the runners and weed thoroughly. Other than that, leave well alone as you don't want to be encouraging growth at this time of year. Feed in spring.

Just my experience.

[wasthiswise]

I've had a plot for about 5 years and when I first grew strawberries the weeding was a real pain. Then I replanted through mypex-like fabric and havent looked back. Well worth the initial effort (+ cost) given that the crop stays in place for 3 years or so. Virtually no weeds.

[Ema]

my strawberry patch which came with the plot is very neglected and has more plantain than strawberries. I sprayed the nettles in the patch last year but it wouldn’t wise to try and spray all the plantain. I have tried pulling them up between the strawberries but the ground is very hard here. 

This years harvest was pants very small strawberries so in September ish I covered the patch with black plastic. I have no idea how old the plants are but there past it. I got a few plants from the Chelsea flower show this year and there delicious so I have been focusing my energy on propagating these.

The patch is so compacted that I may borrow a rotavator and go over it as it will just be back breaking to dig. Then I will manure and plant out the new plants.

I have another small patch of strawberries between blackcurrents and I will raid this for more young plants.

[surbie100]

If you can't get a rotavator, I really recommend using a mattock. It gets through hard ground not quite like a hot knife through butter, but so much easier than a spade. Mine's been a godsend.