Materials Needed to Plant Wild Strawberries

Wild strawberries are a loose ground cover that slowly spreads by the use of runners. "They are one of the parents of the cultivated hybrid strawberries" that are commonly grown in home gardens, as stated by Dr. John Hilty. They are a perennial that can be cultivated for use as a ground cover or to harvest the delicious strawberries, and can be grown with the same materials as commercial strawberries are grown.

Loose Soil

Work the soil in the site where you plan on growing the wild strawberries. The plant has a long taproot which will benefit from the loosened soil. Remove extra rocks and branches that may hinder the strawberry plant. Make sure you are planting in a sunny spot.

Leaf mold

Strawberries will benefit from the addition of leaf mold into the soil. It will add enough organic material without making it acidic. Strawberries prefer a loose soil with a pH of about 6.5. Be careful about adding too much composted material as the extra nitrogen will cause the plants to grow large and leafy with very little fruit.

Hay

Scatter hay thickly around the plants and between the rows if you are growing a good bed of wild strawberries. The hay will keep the berries off the moist ground and will then eventually breakdown into soil. The hay will also attract earthworms which in turn will aerate and fertilize the soil with their castings.