Expert tips on growing the most strawberries you can this summer
British strawberries are enjoying a stellar start to the season, with growers reporting one of the best early harvests in recent memory.
Warm days, cool nights and record-breaking sunshine levels have combined to create perfect growing conditions, according to British Berry Growers.
The Wimbledon Tennis Championships traditionally mark peak strawberry season, with around 200,000 portions of strawberries and cream consumed during the tournament.
However, there's nothing quite like the taste of home-grown strawberries picked fresh, and they aren't difficult to grow for yourself.
The weather makes a difference
'The weather has been very kind to all growers,' says Jim Floor, managing director of berry growers Hall Hunter. 'We had a very cold February and March, then from April onwards it's been sunny – and strawberries love sunshine.
'The nights have been quite cool and the perfect environment for strawberries is 20 degree days and 10 degree nights.'
Plenty of bees help
If you have a garden with plenty of plants which attract pollinators, such as open-flowered geum, iberis, cranesbill geraniums, lavender and heathers, you're likely to get better crops because the bees will pollinate the strawberry flowers.
For the biggest harvests…
You'll need plenty of space for a strawberry patch if you want a huge crop, and will need to plant numerous plants. Alternatively, you can grow strawberries in pots but because of the limited number of plants you can accommodate, your yield may be limited.
Many types produce new runners after flowering, which create new plantlets on their own.
You can also plant different varieties of strawberries to extend the season – summer-fruiting types, perpetual strawberries which produce a smaller quantity of fruit from summer until autumn, and Alpine, or wild, strawberries, which bear small crops of tiny berries spasmodically during summer.
Plug plants are a good bet and are available in garden centres and nurseries from late spring onwards, or alternatively you can buy bare-root plants, known as runners, which look like root clumps, in late summer or early autumn, and again in spring.
Plant in full sun or in polytunnels where they will be warm and won't become damp, or if outside a raised bed or grow bag is a good option, Floor suggests.
'I grow them in a hanging basket (at home) because they tend to do much better if they're not (at ground level) in the soil, where there are lots of pests and diseases.'
During the growing season, make sure they are fed and watered regularly. 'I would recommend a balanced multi-purpose liquid feed.
'If you want sweeter strawberries you might want to put more potassium in, but you need to be careful because any overfeeding of potassium, calcium or nitrogen could give you a problem.
' Calcium can burn the leaves, potassium could potentially kill the plants and (overfeeding with) nitrogen, you will get 100% leaves and no fruit.
Possible problems
Slugs are a threat, he warns. 'Last year because of the mild winter and the wet year the problem was slugs, particularly if you were growing strawberries in the ground.
'This year it's been about keeping everything irrigated. As long as the plants have plenty of water, they will do well.'
Birds may also feast on the fruits, so it would be wise to cover your strawberries with netting if you need to keep them at bay.
As the fruits emerge, place straw underneath them so the fruits don't brush against the ground and rot.
When are they ready to pick?
When they are evenly red, he says. 'They don't necessarily come off the stem quite easily. If the fruit comes off easily it may be over-ripe.'
After fruiting
'De-leaf the plants a little bit, getting rid of the debris and dead leaves, and there's no reason why they couldn't be kept for another year,' he suggests.
Good varieties
Strawberries which have received the RHS Award of Garden Merit include 'Hapil', which produces large red fruits and is lauded for its vigorous growth and is well-suited to light or drier soils and to containers; and the late season 'Florence' which has 'exceptional disease resistance' and whose large dark red fruits are produced in mid-July.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘It's a never-ending holiday!' 17 expert tips to make the most of summer
Whatever the weather, June marks the start of what we consider summer in the northern hemisphere, and many of us are seized with a frenetic desire to make the most of it. We want our homes to be light, airy and inviting and our outside spaces full of colour and scent – but if you're anything like me, that stuff doesn't necessarily come naturally. Instead, I'm chasing bluebottles, sweating into my sofa and staring enviously over the neighbours' wall at their impeccable garden. But in summertime the living really can be easy: I asked home and garden experts for their favourite simple ways to welcome the season. Sensory tweaks that instantly conjure summer are 'so fricking cool', says colour psychologist Tash Bradley, design director of Lick. A gentle hum of jazz in the background, a summery candle burning (basil or tomato leaf scents are instantly evocative), or, best of all, real greenery. You don't need a garden to raid: 'When you're next on a walk, pick foliage or bring branches in – the trees are so luscious – and put them in vases around the house,' Bradley says. (Garden designer Sean Pritchard's book Outside In is full of ravishing inspiration for this.) 'Embrace the spirit of a never-ending holiday by prepping your space for spontaneous gatherings,' says Rebecca Lowrey Boyd, design writer and author of the Wee Birdy newsletter. 'Keep a ready-to-go drinks tray or a basket of picnic essentials on standby, so you're always five minutes from hosting a garden soiree, or at least pretending you are. If you're feeling fancy, throw in a sprig of mint and a set of cocktail napkins.' (Lowrey Boyd likes a 'natty embroidered' Anthropologie set; I've found good ones on eBay.) 'With a few honourable exceptions, once May is out of the way it begins to get a bit late for planting, and certainly for sowing things that will bulk up and present an impressively romantic spectacle for the summer months,' says Andrew Timothy O'Brien, garden writer and host of the Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast. 'That said, some seeds sown in early June will get going remarkably quickly. On the veg front there's French and runner beans, courgettes and pumpkins, lettuce, pak choi, sweetcorn and carrots. Ornamentals that you sow now will extend the season by flowering in later summer and into autumn: try nasturtiums, sunflowers or night-scented stocks. To avoid disappointment, make sure you're using freshly bought seed, not something from a packet you've had sitting in the shed since lockdown.' 'I like things that maybe don't quite go together,' says Allan Jenkins, former Observer gardening columnist and author of Plot 29. 'Happy accidents are more interesting than regimented rows.' This time of year in the garden – or, in Jenkins's case, on the allotment – is for spontaneity and serendipity. 'From May onwards I will have beans, maybe peas. Sunflower seeds might find a home.' In her new book, Dopamine Decor, interior stylist and colour evangelist Kate Morgan recommends taking inspiration from holidays: the places you enjoy spending time in – cafes and bars, hotels, tavernas – and the treats you eat. Morgan is a big fan of fruit motifs. 'When I think of a good holiday, I think of warm places, blue skies and lovely bowls of pineapples, coconuts, mangoes, watermelons, lemons and limes – and a fruity cocktail or two! Delicious zingy flavours and bright colours.' Her home is full of fruity touches, from a blueberry milk jug to a cherry toilet brush. 'A summer simmer pot is simple, quick and cost-effective,' says Lesley Bramwell, sustainable fragrance entrepreneur and author of Fragrance Your Home. 'Add sprigs of summer plants – mint or eucalyptus – a handful of fresh rose petals or lavender buds and a few slices of lemon or orange to a large pan. Cover with water, filling the pot to around two-thirds full. Bring to the boil and then gently simmer. Add a few spices to bring warmth, like fresh ginger or cloves. As the pot simmers away, the steam will gently release summery aromas.' Change your fabrics for lighter, breezier versions. 'As a nation we are not particularly good at seasonal changes but, done well, they can feel like a full redecoration,' says design writer Kate Watson-Smyth, author of multiple books and award-winning interiors blog Mad about the House, and co-host of the The Great Indoors podcast. 'I once met a Danish fashion designer who was baffled by our reluctance to swap things in and out during the year: 'You change your clothes with the seasons, why not your cushions?'' No need to stop at cushions: Morgan recommends swapping 'duvet covers, tablecloths, shower curtains, blankets, rugs and towels' for lighter, brighter summery patterns. 'Make like the Danes and change heavy thermal curtains for linen panels,' suggests Watson-Smyth. Lowrey Boyd agrees: 'Your home will feel airier, brighter and, dare I say, almost continental. Less Victorian parlour, more Mediterranean hideaway.' She has her eye on Ikea's crushed linen curtains for an affordable switch-up. Watson-Smyth gives her coffee table a seasonal facelift. In winter it holds large coffee-table books, dark candles with heavier scents and decorative boxes of matches. 'In summer the books return to the shelves, to be replaced with magazines, bud vases and perhaps a reed diffuser in a pretty glass bottle. Anything that refreshes the room will lift the mood.' 'At this time of year,' says Bradley, 'the best room in the house is the garden.' To connect indoors and out, she suggests repainting a door leading to outside space, or a window overlooking it, in a nature-inspired green or blue. 'It's a really quick win to zhoosh up a room, make it a focal point and draw the eye out into the garden.' Your plants are probably happier in summer, but they still need TLC. 'As the light, temperature and length of the days increase, keeping up with watering is vital so our houseplants don't wilt,' says Sarah Gerrard-Jones, author of The Plant Rescuer: The Book Your Houseplants Want You to Read. 'Plants that may have only needed water every few weeks during winter might now need to be watered more frequently. The easiest way to know is to check the soil for moisture by sticking your finger deep into the pot, or weighing it in your hands. A pot that feels light indicates it's time to water.' Feed plants once a month through the summer growing season. It's also a good time, Gerrard-Jones says, to check which need repotting. 'A clear sign that a bigger pot is needed is roots growing out of the holes in the bottom, or the soil drying out quickly, which suggests there is little potting compost left.' Check for pests, too: 'It's far easier to get rid of one or two before it becomes a full-blown infestation.' 'Fill planters near the back door or window boxes with fresh mint, parsley, chives and rosemary plants,' says O'Brien. 'That way they'll always be on hand to snip for the kitchen, or to wrench off a sprig and stick it straight into a cocktail.' You don't need to make a special garden centre trip – supermarket pots will do. I follow botanist James Wong's advice to keep my supermarket basil alive: split up and thin out the dense tangle of seedlings, keep a few clumps of healthier ones and pot them up in good-quality compost. Tackling garden weeds can feel like a losing battle at this time of year, so how about not bothering? Gardener and landscape designer Jack Wallington specialises in working with, rather than against nature. His newsletter Wild Way is full of prompts and tips to reframe how we think about garden 'pests' and 'weeds'. 'Wildflowers – plants like cow parsley, teasel, tufted vetch, yarrow, Welsh poppy, dandelions, hedge woundwort, ox eye daisies and lawn daisies – often flower longer and are more resilient to extremes in weather than many ornamental plants,' he says. 'If you allow them, these wild plants multiply prolifically and then manage themselves, reducing maintenance; no need to grow from seed or water these sustainable plants.' They also encourage and support other wildlife: 'Many insects evolved to rely on them, and without that rich biodiversity many gardens feel lifeless to me,' Wallington says. Plus, they look great. 'Wildflowers we're told to rip out actually create the most contemporary and chic style. Best yet, of course, they're free.' 'It might sound bonkers,' says O'Brien, 'but consider creating a weedy planter.' Weeds flourish when everything else is struggling. 'These plants are what our soil wants to grow, and sometimes it can make sense to listen to what the garden is trying to tell us. Many weeds are attractive or sculptural. Think of the charming, daisy-like white and pink Mexican fleabane (erigeron karvinskianus); or Lady's mantle (alchemilla mollis) with its chartreuse flowers and pale green leaves, which show off raindrops to such wonderful effect. Elevate your weeds by collecting a selection and sticking them in a pot or a trough, and placing it somewhere where you can regularly take a good long look at them.' There's nothing summer chic about the big fat flies thumping into my windows while a billion tiny ones host some kind of rave on my bananas. 'We don't want to be destroying insects; they're essential for pollination,' says Bake Off legend and eco pioneer Nancy Birtwhistle, author of Clean and Green and the cookbook Nancy's Green and Easy Kitchen. Instead, 'it's about repelling them'. Her strategy: halve a lemon and stud each half with cloves (or juice the lemon and fill the hulls with cloves) then place it in your kitchen or fruit bowl or by your houseplants. 'Insects hate the smell of cloves. If they get a whiff, they're off.' If you're facing invasion from an ant army, Birtwhistle recommends squirting her homemade cleaning spray (160ml water, 60ml vinegar and 40ml surgical spirit) along their pathways. 'Now summer's here, you may not be thinking about your woollen jumpers, but clothes moths very much are,' says Birtwhistle. 'Protect your jumpers by putting them in sealed bags or boxes and by using a natural deterrent. Lavender is a great moth repellent and it's in season now, so collect a few sprigs.' 'Give your dining table (or the rickety one in the garden) a summer makeover with a bold, stripy tablecloth or some clashing printed napkins,' says Lowrey Boyd. No need for a splurge – grab a length of cheerful fabric or even a retro-inspired tea towel.' Add vibrant napkins (Lowrey Boyd fancies some 'jolly ricrac numbers from RE') and mismatched coloured candles. 'Suddenly, every meal feels like a sun-drenched picnic, even if it's beans on toast.' 'Just as summer really starts to get going and the weather is good for relaxing and entertaining in the garden, growth rates slow down and everything begins to look a little thirsty,' says O'Brien. 'The temptation is to dash out and buy things to make the garden look good: replace the patio set, buy a shiny new barbecue and pick up some plants. The problem is, this kind of panic buying rarely hits the spot, and anything you plant now is going to need endless watering and attention to prevent it from looking knackered and carking it within a week of bringing it home.' The secret to happy summer gardening, he says, is doing less (it's the guiding philosophy of O'Brien's book, To Stand and Stare: How to Garden While Doing Next to Nothing). 'Learn to love what you've already got. Lawn looking a bit parched? Let it grow rangy and a bit straggly. Get to know the wildflowers that you'd otherwise spend precious hours decapitating, while bees and butterflies make the most of the nectar resource. You can restore order in autumn; summer is mainly for dossing about.' Amen to that.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Farmers' harvest in limbo after UK endures driest spring in nearly 70 years
British farmers are bracing for potentially disastrous harvests following the hottest spring on record, compounded by the driest conditions seen in decades, new analysis reveals. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) warns that climate change is already having a "devastating" impact on farmers, food security and shopping bills, and that recent weather extremes will negatively impact the upcoming harvest. The warning comes as concerns mount that the Government will cut funding for sustainable farming in the upcoming spending review. Farmers and environmentalists warn that such cuts would undermine efforts to restore nature, build resilience to climate shocks, and support rural communities. Martin Lines, chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, said this year's arable harvest was "on a knife edge" and stressed the need for funding to build resilience. Experts say that nature-friendly farming measures, such as promoting healthy soils and boosting natural predators of crop pests, can significantly enhance agriculture 's resilience to climate extremes. Mr Lines, who farms in Cambridgeshire, said: 'Months of dry weather have left my crops stressed, with their yield potential now capped even if we get a good bit of rain. 'This is what farming in a changing climate looks like.' And he said: 'It's wreaking havoc with my ability to plan and many farmers are now facing yet more financial losses this harvest, just as support for nature-friendly farming is being called into question. 'Nature-friendly farming is the backbone of rural resilience. Cutting funding now won't save money; it will cost us all in the long run,' he warned. The UK has experienced its hottest spring in records dating back to the 19th century, and its driest in more than 50 years with rainfall at just 40 per cent of average levels. England suffered the driest three months from March to May in more than 100 years, Met Office figures show. The north-west of England is already in drought, and the Environment Agency has warned of the risk of more widespread drought without sustained rainfall. Analysis from ECIU estimates the production of the main arable crops – wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape – could once again be near all-time lows, following the third-worst harvest on record last year after the extreme rainfall in winter 2023/2024. The assessment draws on the most recent crop development survey from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), which identified a major decline in crop conditions due to the dry spring, reducing yield potential despite recent rainfall. It looks at three scenarios, reflecting what might happen with rainfall in the coming weeks. If crop condition is maintained at current levels, yields would be in line with last year, leading to a worse harvest than 2024, due to fewer acres of oilseed rape and spring barley planted outweighing an increase in wheat, and making 2025 the second-worst harvest in records dating back to the 1980s. If rain helps crop conditions improve and yields recover to the 10-year average, the UK harvest would be the seventh-worst on record, the ECIU estimates. And if crop condition continues to decline and yields are equivalent to 2020 – the worst harvest so far since the detailed records began in 1984 – this year could become the worst harvest on record. Tom Lancaster, land, food and farming analyst at ECIU, said: 'Climate change is already having a devastating impact on UK farming and our collective food security, pushing up shopping bills and leaving many farmers at the end of their tether. 'Although it's too early to tell what the true impact will be of this record-breaking dry spring, we know enough to conclude that it will have had a negative impact.' He said scientists were clear warmer springs were a feature of climate change, making the impact of a dry spring more severe, while extreme wet winters were also being fuelled by rising global temperatures. Many crops were hit by extreme rainfall in England last September and October, just as winter crops should have been drilled, delaying them to the spring and making them more vulnerable to the recent dry, warm weather. 'In this volatile context, the outcome of the spending review next week will be a crucial moment for farming in this country, and whether the Government realises what's at stake for UK farming and food security in a rapidly changing climate,' Mr Lancaster said.
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Derek Brockway: Could AI weather forecasting cost me my job?
Weather forecasts play a huge role in our daily lives. They help us to decide how we get to work, if we need an umbrella and when to hang out the washing. For industries like farming, shipping, aviation and renewable energy, accurate forecasts are essential.I've been presenting the weather on the BBC for nearly 30 years. Over that time, I've witnessed how our changing climate is bringing more extreme and intense weather is so important to keep improving the way we predict the weather, and scientists are exploring how AI could make forecasting more accurate, efficient, and faster than ever before. In some countries, broadcasters have even begun to experiment with AI-generated weather does all this mean that forecasters like me could soon be out of a job? Traditionally, weather forecasting relies on complex numerical weather prediction models which require vast amounts of data and supercomputers - like the ones used by the Met Office. But the Met Office is now working with experts from the Alan Turing Institute, the UK's national centre for data science and AI, to build a new global forecasting system powered by AI. One of their models, called FastNet, uses machine learning to improve prediction Kirstine Dale, Chief AI Officer at the Met Office, said it had the potential to revolutionise forecasting. "AI is phenomenally fast - not just a bit faster, but tens of thousands of times faster," she told me. "That means it can produce up to date forecasts with a fraction of the computational cost and carbon dioxide."She said AI could also produce "hyper-localised" forecasts, "potentially offering more up to date forecasts tailored to your postcode".Forecasts driven by AI could also help to mitigate against the impacts of storms, floods and heatwaves by providing earlier and more accurate warnings of severe weather. But there are challenges - especially in predicting rare or extreme weather events. "The past is no longer a reliable indicator of the future," said Prof Dale."So we need traditional numerical weather prediction (NWP) models to explore how the climate may change and generate recalibrated datasets. "These recalibrated datasets of future climates can be used to train AI-based models."AI-based models simply aren't aware of the physics - and changing physics - of the atmosphere, so NWP will likely continue to play a vital role in forecasting extreme events, as well as adding a layer of validation to AI forecasting outputs." Dr Scott Hosking, Mission Director for Environmental Forecasting at the Turing Institute, said that once trained, AI models were cheaper and quicker to run than traditional forecasting systems."AI has surprised us in a number of ways," said Dr Hosking."One of them is how well it predicts the tracks of cyclones and hurricanes. AI is always learning what it has seen in the past."But he said AI still had some way to go in certain areas, including in its ability to forecast high-intensity rainfall - the kind that often leads to flash could also play a key role in space weather forecasting, helping to predict solar storms more accurately and efficiently. These storms, caused by solar activity, are best known for producing the aurora borealis - the Northern Lights - which have been seen in Wales several times recently. But space weather can be hazardous too, affecting Earth's magnetic field and potentially disrupting communication systems and Huw Morgan, Head of Solar System Physics at Aberystwyth University, led a project to enhance the Met Office's space weather forecasting. Speaking from the university's AI Hub, he told me AI could offer a vital role."It's a very complicated system to try to model. Forecasts exist but they have many weaknesses because space weather is so complex," Dr Morgan said."And unlike on Earth, we can't put recording stations on the Sun or between the Sun and Earth. "We are really dependent on remote data from telescopes. "So AI offers a good solution, because we can't monitor the whole system constantly, and we cannot really build models that are appropriate for the system yet."However, Dr Morgan acknowledges AI has its challenges and scientists will continue to rely on traditional space weather forecasting techniques for now. 'No one wants an AI Derek' So what about AI-generated weather presenters?Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern is not so sure."It's important for people to have presenters they trust," he told me. "No one wants an AI version of Derek. "They want the real Derek - someone who can take all the data and explain it in a way that makes sense."Aidan is optimistic about what the future holds for forecasting."When I started this job 18 years ago, we couldn't really predict beyond four or five days. "Now we're giving outlooks 10 or even 14 days ahead. "We may not be able to give specific details that far out but we can already offer a sense of whether it'll be warm or cold, wet or dry - and highlight big changes on the way."And with AI, the potential only grows."Just imagine - in the near future, we might be able to talk about a month's worth of weather at once, and visualise it in a way that really connects with the public. "That's hugely exciting."The potential for AI in weather prediction is immense, but AI won't replace traditional forecasting methods entirely. It's more likely to work alongside them and be another tool for meteorologists like me to use. For now, at least, I think my job is safe. Hopefully the real Derek will continue to say "hello, shwmae" for a long while yet.
