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Connecticut Garden Journal
Connecticut Garden Journal is a weekly program hosted by horticulturalist Charlie Nardozzi. Each week, Charlie focuses on a topic relevant to both new and experienced gardeners, including pruning lilac bushes, growing blight-free tomatoes, groundcovers, sunflowers, bulbs, pests, and more.

Connecticut Garden Journal: Strawberry Care

strawberry
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The delicious red berries are coming in strong and it's time to take care of the berries and plants for next year.

It's strawberry fields forever. The delicious red berries are coming in strong and it's time to take care of the berries and plants for next year.

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The first order of business is to protect the berries. Birds love strawberries. We lay fine mesh netting over our patch each year to keep the birds away. It works well, especially if we lay the netting down before the berries ripen.

Another culprit is chipmunks. There have been lots of chippies around this year and they're hungry little guys. Use a thicker plastic deer fencing over the berries and secure it well on the ground to prevent them from tunneling under it. Another option is essential oils. Some gardeners have had success soaking cotton balls with peppermint oil and placing those in the garden. It seems chippies don't like the smell.

Although this spring has been drier than normal, slugs and snails are still out. If they're munching on your berries, place beer traps in the beds to draw them away and remove and hay or straw mulch in the paths.

Pick any berries that are rotting and destroy them. This mummy berry disease can spread to other ripening berries. After harvest of the June bearing strawberries, renovate the beds by narrowing the rows to 2 feet apart, removing crowded plants. Fertilize, water and weed well for a good crop next year. For day neutral varieties, keep watering and add some organic fertilize so the berries will keep coming until fall. You'll get smaller crops of day neutral berries compared to the June bearers and they will be spread out over time.

Charlie Nardozzi is a regional Emmy® Award winning garden writer, speaker, radio, and television personality. He has worked for more than 30 years bringing expert information to home gardeners.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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