Hi, what do I need to do with last years strawberry patch to ensure a bumper crop? I've just left them in the bed with straw around. Thanks.

Hi Kylee,

Remove the dead leaves and plant material from around the plants, remove any runners and plant them in another place in the garden, or in pots, so that you have successive planting of strawberries. Your plants should be replaced every 3 years as after that fruiting is reduced and the fruit smaller.

If your plants have signs of black spot on the leaves, spray with a copper based spray as a protectant and clean up spray, do this in winter up until flowering time. Remove last seasons straw from around the plants as this is a haven for slugs, snails, earwigs and slaters which will all potentially eat the fruit in spring, by doing this you will reduce the populations as they go elsewhere and find a new habitat. Replace with fresh straw in early spring when the ground is still damp.

Start feeding when you see new growth with a specially balanced strawberry food, such as Tui Strawberry Food, feed every 4-6 weeks throughout the growing season to ensure a bumper crop of sweet juicy berries. If you see deformed fruit set through winter, remove them as this is incomplete pollination by bees and they are unlikely to come to anything. Lianne, Tui Team.