strawberry planting

[brownthumb2]

 planning a new strawberry  bed   Whats everyones  favourite way to grow   in weed membrane  or black plastic or straight in the ground 

[brownthumb2]

[Pescador]

I'd go for weed membrane, as it's porous and will let the rain through. With plastic you are liable to get run-off and still be left with dry plants

[ancellsfarmer]

Landscaping fabric, the toughest you can buy . I try to produce ridges in the prepared soil, apply the fabric, pierce with a stanley knife, as if a hot cross bun , and carefully plant along the ridges. Try not to get any loose soil on top, bury the edges and overlap if joints are necessary, making the joint on a ridge.
These fabrics prevent most weeds from growing up from beneath but allow weeds to become rooted and established in soil left on top. Roots will penetrate down, causing difficulty in removal. Strawberry runners ,if left alone, will also get through, and create a jungle!
Strawberry beds have a realistic life of three fruiting seasons, so its not a bad idea to take runners each year, from the healthiest plants, and extend the bed by 1/3 each year, moving across the ground, like a continuous migration/rotation.
The oldest bed , having had lots of manure at the start, should be incorporated back into the general rotation  and that means potatoes for me.

[Crystalmoon]

I usually have a strawberry bed planted through good quality membrane but on my new allotment we aren't allowed strawberries in the ground...I was really annoyed by this & grumpily planted my strawberries into large pots. But I am actually really glad I did as the awful wet start to the Summer didn't rot any of my fruit, I didn't suffer any ant/slug damage & didn't need to net them as the birds just didn't see the pots as I doted them around the plot in between raised beds etc. Not having all the strawberries growing together in one place actually worked much better & I got a far greater harvest from the pots than I was expecting. And as soon as they were finished I moved the pots to a storage space on my plot so I am now really glad I haven't lost loads of growing space to a strawberry bed. I'm not sure how long the plants will go on doing well in the pots though....my old strawberry beds used to work well for 4 years. Got a feeling I may have to buy new plants after a couple of years with them being in pots but only time will tell.

[caroline7758]

I used weed suppressant membrane for the first time this year and my strawberries were rubbish because they got eaten by ants and slugs which i guess had sheltered under the fabric.

[picman]

We tried them 3' up in the air this year in strawberry grow bags, 1st year plants (Cambridge Favourite ) did well . ( saves the back ache too)

[brownthumb2]

 Thanks everyone for your comments and the idea of extending the bed a little each year is worth  thinking about