Allotments 4 All

Hi,
i have just planted my strawberries i bought,
( cambridge delight i think the lady said)
she said she cuts the leaves off them, of do i do this now or in spring
:D

can't really think of a reason to do this, the foliage will die back naturally and won't really look very nice but I feel it provides a bit of a mulch for the roots of the plant - maybe she suggested it purely for neatness  :-\

ok thankyou

I have strawberries in really random places in my plot. Can I replant them in one place now or should I wait until spring or will they not transplant well? I got my plot just to late to see if they had fruti this year.

Thanks!

Hello,
             I would move them now, prepare the area first with some decent rotted manure or compost dug in, then transplant the strawbs, they will then settle in nicely & give you a crop next year

                                              Adrian.

Thanks!

Would it help to use bonemeal as well?

 Hi,
        Don`t see why not , 2 oz (50 gms) per square yard / metre ought to be fine.
                                                               
                                                                                Adrian.

On the subject of Strawbs... I remember seeing a Gardeners World special, that featured allotments and an awesome structure one guy had made for his Strawberries... He had a structure made with a X frame and had used the top to make a trench for the strawberries to be planted in - it seemed to stop Slug and Snail issues and with netting stopped birds too. As a plus it put them at a handy height for picking :D

I think I'll make one of these, as an almost fence barrier between myself and my neighbour (whose plot isn't used). What kind on drainage would I need to put in for Strawbs? Did anyone else remember seeing this and how the structure was made?

Daniel

I saw the programme (the BBC is so much better than Dutch television!) and remember the structure being made with wooden X-frames and a 'trench' of carpet. This was filled with a mixture of compost and garden soil (or do you say 'ground'?).
The X-s were about 50 centimeters apart.

The carpet did not need a draining system as excess water would leak through. If the material is to finely woven, I suppose you can just punch some holes in.

 :D EXCELLENT! That's the one!

Carpet... I completly forgot his method, I had images of wood or plastic with drainage holes etc... Carpet is a much better idea :)

Thanks for coming to my aid Garjan... Where in Holland are you?

Hi

It was also on that allotment program that they kept moving.

It was carpet on net, he replaced the soil and plants ( from runners ) each year.

I have the stuff to make it next year so i took some notes.

Cambourne7

Hi dgillings
I'm exactly in the middle of the Netherlands, in Amersfoort. All national geographical measurements start from out main city square.

And Cambourne7, you're right about the net. I forgot about it, because I don't know why it is used. The carpet itself is sturdy enough to keep up the weight. Especially when the X-s are so close together they will not sag.

One lottie near here does them in black tyres on membrane... says the rubber warms up and helps repel slugs and ripen the fuit faster, and they are easier to pick for being off the ground. I'm not a tyre fan but this looked impressive!
8)