A simple wall garden is the perfect way to grow lots of strawberries, even better if it’s close to the main entertaining space so you can watch the sweet fruit grow and ripen. Follow our step by step guide to create your own wall garden full of delicious strawberries.
Shopping list: Tui Sheep Pellets, Tui Strawberry Mix, Tui Strawberry Straw, Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic, Tui NovaTec Premium fertiliser, strawberry seedlings, wall pocket planter.
Prepare
Choose a sunny spot on a deck or fence that is close to the main entertaining space so you can watch the sweet fruit grow and ripen. Hang planter pockets on your chosen wall, using nail and hammer to secure to the wall.
The better the soil, the better your plants will grow. Prepare a mix of Tui Strawberry Mix and Tui Sheep Pellets (a couple of handfuls per bag should do the trick!) in a bucket or a wheelbarrow. Tui Strawberry Mix is specifically formulated with extra potassium, just what your strawberry plants need to encourage a plentiful harvest of big juicy fruit.
Wall pocket planters make a great feature in your entertaining space and allow you to plant plenty of strawberries for a continuous supply over the warmer months. On HOMEmade they used wall planters with nine pockets in each planter.
Plant
The best times to plant are early in the morning or late in the day, so the plants aren’t exposed to the hot sun straight away.
A good rule of thumb is to plant five strawberry plants for each member of the household. Research shows that planting strawberries in New Zealand's winter temperatures will produce a larger crop over the season, so don't be afraid to plant early.
- Fill each pocket ¾ full with the pre-made mix of of Tui Sheep Pellets and Tui Strawberry Mix.
- Before planting your strawberry plants, soak in a bucket of Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic and allow to drain. This will help prevent transplant shock.
- Make a hole with your finger in each pocket.
- Place one strawberry plant into each pocket.
- Fill in with more Tui Strawberry Mix.
- Press soil gently around the base of the plant.
- Finish with a layer of Tui Strawberry Straw around each plant.
- Water well.
Nourish
To make sure you have continuous supply of healthy and delicious strawberries for snacking and cooking over the summer months feed your strawberries in the wall planter with Tui NovaTec Premium fertiliser.
Keep your strawberries well watered. Well watered, well nourished strawberries will have a better chance of keeping insect pests and diseases at bay.
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Strawberry Wall Garden Comments
Hi, how can I protect my wall planters from bird as I hang it against a garage sunny wall? Thanks.
Ngaire Lorna Smith
Hi Lorna, there are several ways to protect your plants, one is using bird netting over the baskets when the fruit ripens, the other is using shiny objects such as trips of foil or bird scaring tape, or tin foil containers that flutter in the wind, scaring the birds away.
Lianne, Tui Team
Hi, what material is used to hold the plants for the strawberry wall garden, and do they need much care? Thanks.
Alley Thompson
Hi Alley, the fabric used can vary, it could be wool felt, or horticultural fabric that is porous such as a weed mat type fabric. Straw mulch can be added around the plants to help conserve soil moisture and prevent drying out so quickly, the plants still need regular watering and feeding just as they would if planted in the garden. But the added bonus of having the plants hanging like that is that it keeps them up off the soil and the fruit doesn't get dirty.
Lianne
Is there any danger of the wall planter rotting the fence? And if so, how can this be prevented please?
Louisa
Hi Louisa, if the fence is untreated timber, over time and if left up indefinitely it could rot the fence, but not over one season. To prevent any damage you could place a sheet of polythene plastic behind the wall planter. Alternatively, once the plants have finished fruiting move the wall planter to another spot to protect the timber fence if that is possible, or remove the plants from the wall planter and replant with fresh strawberry plants each season, an expensive exercise for fresh strawberries in summer, but preferable to having to replace the wooden fence.
Lianne
How do I control snails, ants and bugs getting at my strawberries?
Dale Ertel
Hi Dale, if you are having problems with ants it is likely that you have an insect pest problem, it could be either aphids, mealy bug or scale insect affecting your plants. These are sucking insects which excrete a honey dew as they feed that the ants are attracted to. These pests can be controlled with a pyrethrum based insecticide or horticultural spraying oil, repeat applications may be required. Talk to your local garden centre about a suitable control. The alternative is that the ants have made a nest in the soil around your plants, use an ant sand to eliminate them, this is available from garden centres, supermarkets and hardware stores.
Slugs and snails can be controlled using Tui Quash, it is an iron based pellet that is toxic to slugs and snails and safer for wild life, children and pets. Tidy up any old leaves and remove any straw or mulch from around your plants in winter, this takes away the perfect hiding place for slugs and snails, replace the mulch in spring with fresh barley straw mulch.
Lianne