Who has raised garden beds?

[peach]

Dh is building me two raised beds today - one will be various veggies, the other will be strawberries.

My mom said that when she had raised beds, the strawberries always died over winter and she had to buy new every year. I know you are supposed to buy new strawberry plants every 3 years or so anyway, but I'd like them to live the 3 years! 

Anyone do strawberries in a raised bed? Any tips? I heard to cover them with straw for winter.....we have a harsh, long winter here. I was wondering about covering them with a tarp too. Are you supposed to surround the strawberries with straw during the summer too? Some people say yes, some say no and I am so confused. 

[lavender444]

I don't know the answers to any of this, but I wanted to watch this thread since we plan on putting in raised beds this year as well.

[SusanBAnthony]

Where do you live? I had a raised bed of strawberries in Minneapolis and they did fine. I covered them with leaves the first winter, and left them alone after that. I probably should have covered them every winter but they never died, and always produced well.

[pugz]

my dad is on year 3 with his strawberries, the 25 original plants have multiplied to 150. I do think he's put straw over them.

[gulfer]

Just a lurker, but have you thought of a strawberry tower? My DH built me one and I fit in 75 strawberry plants, they are doing really well especially with the built in irrigation. As far as over the winter, I have heard of people with these towers bringing them into their garage or a shed during winter. Here is a link that I showed my husband when he built mine: www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/2013/03/mavis-mail-april-from-santa-cruz-california-sends-in-her-garden-photos/ you could then use your other raised bed for more veggies, it's good to have multiple beds for crop rotation.

[LauraMoser]

May 7, 2013 12:23:50 GMT -5 gulfer said:

Just a lurker, but have you thought of a strawberry tower? My DH built me one and I fit in 75 strawberry plants, they are doing really well especially with the built in irrigation. As far as over the winter, I have heard of people with these towers bringing them into their garage or a shed during winter. Here is a link that I showed my husband when he built mine: www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/2013/03/mavis-mail-april-from-santa-cruz-california-sends-in-her-garden-photos/ you could then use your other raised bed for more veggies, it's good to have multiple beds for crop rotation.

How is the strawberry tower working? How long have you had it? Would you say you get a similar yield to that of a traditional strawberry garden?I keep seeing vertical strawberry gardens from pvc pipe on pinterest and I'm wavering on trying it. Of course, given that harvest time in my area is no more than a month or so away, I think it will have to wait till next year at this point.

[gulfer]

May 7, 2013 12:48:16 GMT -5 LauraMoser said:

May 7, 2013 12:23:50 GMT -5 gulfer said:

Just a lurker, but have you thought of a strawberry tower? My DH built me one and I fit in 75 strawberry plants, they are doing really well especially with the built in irrigation. As far as over the winter, I have heard of people with these towers bringing them into their garage or a shed during winter. Here is a link that I showed my husband when he built mine: www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/2013/03/mavis-mail-april-from-santa-cruz-california-sends-in-her-garden-photos/ you could then use your other raised bed for more veggies, it's good to have multiple beds for crop rotation.

How is the strawberry tower working? How long have you had it? Would you say you get a similar yield to that of a traditional strawberry garden?I keep seeing vertical strawberry gardens from pvc pipe on pinterest and I'm wavering on trying it. Of course, given that harvest time in my area is no more than a month or so away, I think it will have to wait till next year at this point.

The tower is working really well. This is the first year and I think the part that makes it so successful is the built in irrigation. It keeps the strawberries from getting wet and laying on the ground. Also watering it is really fast just plug the hose into the cap attached to the drip line and all of the strawberries are thoroughly watered in about 5 minutes. I've got 75 plants and so far about 3-6 flowers on each one, lots of strawberries are on their way to ripening and we've harvested about a dozen ripe ones so far.

I am thinking of adding another tower next year, maybe trying an additional variety.

[new2this2]

I have strawberries in raised beds. It gets cold here and I've had no issues. I can't remember exactly what kind of strawberries I bought but they are a hardy variety. They're fine totally unprotected to -25. If it's going to be colder than that I throw a tarp or something over that raised bed. I've never done straw just because I haven't had it laying around when I realized it was going to be super cold.

[stephm0188]

My strawberry plants were new last year. I should have put straw over them this winter, but I forgot. They came back and they're already forming berries.

[treedimensional]

My raised beds are filled with trees and shrubs.

[sailorgray]

We have raised beds with strawberries. The plants have multiplied. We did nothing to them over winter or any other time and they look beautiful with white flowers and signs of berries. I love in the Philly area, so we do experience cold winters.

[housegeek]

Oooh I have 2 raised beds! I have lettuces, carrots cucs and tomatoes in mine, my strawberries are growing in one of those topsy turvey things.
Don't mind all the junk, this was right after we mulched everything and some areas got a bit of plastic to kill the weeds.

[adhdfashion]

I have raised beds, two filled with strawberries. Five years still going strong. I live in WA near the water so we get mild winters. All I do is clean out the beds of all the old dead runners and leaves in the spring. Throw in some compost or fertilizer. I bust up the big clumps of berry plants every couple years.