Buried Roots

Buried Roots

Posted by Heather Harris

I planted bare root strawberries last weekend. Last weekend it was a sunny 51 degrees. Last weekend I didn't even have a coat on. Last weekend I thought, "This is the loveliest winter we've ever had. A gardener's dream!"  Today there are three inches of snow squatting on top of those delicate, naked little roots, mocking me and my naivete.

During all assumed planting disasters, I turn to the Internet. I do not do this when I'm actually planting. Why stop and consult the experts when there are cute little bundles of strawberry plants ready to be planted? How hard could it be? No, it is only when impending doom is before me that I decide to look up what I was supposed to have done before lovingly tucking the roots into the ground for burial.

This time I discovered that no one knows what they're doing. There was so much contradicting information on the proper way to plant bare root strawberries that I now know less than I did when I began. Soak the roots, don't soak the roots. Plant within 48 hours of getting the plants, wait till March. Trim the roots before planting, don't trim the roots. Mix in fifty-five soil amendments, leave the soil alone. So I did what all of us do when seeking a more informed opinion: I only looked at the facts that confirmed what I thought to begin with.

1. Plant the bare root strawberries right away. Check.

2. Make a hole a little bigger than the roots and leave the crown above the soil. Check.

3. Space them fourteen inches apart. Check ( Although I didn't measure it. Let's be real.)

4. Plant them in a raised bed. Check.

5. Plant local varieties. Tristars and Hoods, Check.

6.  Bare root plants can take alternating freezing and snow cover after planting. Hooray!

It turns out I'm an amazingly intuitive gardener! Just follow these steps, and I'm sure your bare root strawberries will turn out perfectly. And if not, just go look at someone else's blog and I'm sure you'll find the list you're looking for.