Strawberry plants are perennials. The fact that you can reap the benefits of your labor over the span of multiple years is a great benefit. However, to ensure that the strawberry plants survive the harsh conditions of the winter months, a little extra tender loving care is required. As discussed on the Growing Strawberries page, June-bearing strawberries need to be renovated each year. One aspect of the renovation process that confuses some people is the mowing strawberries part.
“Mowing strawberries! You must be kidding, right? You surely don’t mean running over your strawberry bed with a lawn mower?!!” Actually, that is exactly what it means. And, hopefully, this post will help you understand how to mow strawberry plants and give you the confidence you need to begin mowing strawberry plants in your own garden.
WHY DO YOU NEED TO MOW STRAWBERRIES?
Mowing strawberry plants serves several functions. As part of renovating strawberries (see the Growing Strawberries page for more details), mowing helps increase the subsequent year’s strawberry yield, extend the vitality of both the strawberry plants and planting area, and facilitates the rest of the renovation process. When the harvest ends, the growing season for the following year begins as flower buds and runners are produced.
The strawberry plant begins forming the buds that will turn into next year’s flowers within the crown after the harvest has completed. These buds begin forming in late summer and continue forming until early fall. Mowing strawberry plants encourages them to develop more buds after harvest. This means more flower stalks the following spring, and, consequently, a higher yield. (Water is also crucial for flower bud formation. To ensure maximal production of strawberries in the following year, 1 inch of water must be applied to the strawberry plants per week until the first frost.)
WHEN TO MOW STRAWBERRIES
June-bearing strawberries are usually the only types of strawberries to mow. Day-neutral and everbearing varieties are generally not mowed. For the June-bearers, the time to mow strawberry beds is within one week after the final harvest has been reaped.
WHEN NOT TO MOW STRAWBERRY PLANTS
It is best to mow strawberry plants within one week after they produce their last harvest. Mowing strawberries after this week will likely result in damage to new foliar growth. No strawberry plants should be mowed after the first day of August. The flower buds will begin forming around the middle of August across most of the United States, and overhead strawberry leaves are needed. If a very late season variety was planted and harvesting is occurring in the last week of July, mowing probably should not take place.
Also, if the strawberry plants are thinly spaced within your garden or strawberry patch, either forego mowing the strawberries or raise the deck of the mower so that the strawberry runners won’t be destroyed and will be able to root afterward.
MOWING STRAWBERRIES
Mowing strawberries may sound drastic, but it is easy. Take your chosen rotary mower and set the deck so that it cuts a full inch above the strawberry plant crowns. Then mow over the plants. Easy as pie. As some varieties of strawberries are particularly sensitive to hot, dry weather, it is a good idea to water the plants prior to mowing. Jewel strawberry plants are particularly sensitive, and some plants may die after mowing a strawberry bed during hot and dry weather.
After mowing, rake up the debris and leaves and remove them from the garden. This helps air circulate and removes a hospitable environment for fungi and other strawberry plant pathogens. The moist or rotten leaves and congested areas are a haven for things that hurt strawberries, so rake soon after mowing.
PRUNING STRAWBERRY PLANTS AND ALTERNATIVES
If you have a raised bed or unique gardening system that prevents running a mower over your strawberry plants, other alternatives can be substituted. Pruning strawberries can be done with any type of pruning shears or applicable scissors. Additionally, if skilled with a weed eater, they can be used also. However, due to the instability of your typical weed whacker, they aren’t recommended. It is just too easy to permanently damage or kill your strawberry plants with an errant tilt.
If you prune strawberries with shears or scissors, it will take longer than mowing your strawberry plants. When trimming, cut about 1 inch above the crowns.
BENEFITS OF MOWING STRAWBERRIES
1. Mowing strawberry plants as the first step in renovation makes the rest of the process easier. The beds will also appear more orderly.
2. Increase flower bud formation and next year’s yield
3. Younger, non-rooted runner plants will be mowed off which helps prevent overcrowding
4. Increases the average size of strawberry collected from next year’s harvest
5. Decreases opportunities for strawberry pathogens due to clearance of excess and/or dead foliage. Mowing can even break the disease cycle for some pathogens
6. Mulching is easier after mowing a strawberry patch
7. Planting new strawberry plants or transplanting runner plants is also easier after mowing, if needed
MOWING STRAWBERRY PLANTS: CONCLUSION
Mowing strawberries is not all that complicated or difficult. However, it is important to remember two final things. First, crown placement is important and should be noted. If the crowns were not set properly at planting and are too high, the mower deck will have to be raised to accommodate them.
Also, the top part of the plants may look terrible after mowing. Fear not! The roots and crowns will be totally intact and happy and will continue producing delicious strawberries! And, if you have a raised bed or other difficult-to-mow area, remember that you can always prune strawberry plants by hand.
Just read your article. I have Hoods it is the last week of July and I want to move them to other beds. It is best to move the whole plant, wait for the runners and plant them and/or mow the bed at this time. Thanks for any help.
Nancy,
Thanks for stopping by Strawberry Plants .org! My recommendation would be to wait another month or so and transplant them in late August. This page may be of assistance: Transplanting Strawberries
After mowing my june-strawberries in august, one plant began to produce strawberries.
Why?
sira,
That is a good question. True June-bearers shouldn’t produce strawberries after they set their harvest and are mowed/renovated. I guess it is possible that some strange genetic expression occurred that caused the plant to begin producing again, or the plant was confused by climate or environmental conditions. My next best guess is that the company that shipped the plants to you (or however you got them) accidentally mixed an everbearer or day-neutral plant in with the lot they sent you.
My strawberry plants are producing quite a few berries now, but have very long and many leaves. Can I cut some of the leaves away so as to let the sunlight in on the berries to ripen them, or will this stop the growing process? tx
Dolores,
You do not need to cut the leaves. The strawberries will ripen just fine without being exposed to sunlight. The sunlight does hasten the process a bit, but cutting healthy leaves decreases the photosynthetic capacity of the plants and isn’t a good idea when the leaves are healthy.
I planted everbearing berries last year, they are now if full blossom and producing. However the runners also have blossoms though not rooted yet, is this standard procedure for these berries. I’ve been raising june berries for years.
I have a new bed with mail order plants (Earliglow)I planted this past April. The runners are growing nicely, but there seems to be a lot of brown foliage on the mother plants. Should this be removed? Also, should I clip the runners from the mothers once they have rooted? I removed the mulch when I saw runners starting (on advice from neighbors that this would prevent the runners from rooting). Should I keep a light pine needle mulch around the plants all year? We are in drought conditions but I have begun watering.
walter,
It is not uncommon for runners from everbearing plants to produce flowers and fruit in the manner you mention. However, the production of flowers takes the plants energy away from rooting and establishing itself for the long haul. See this page for more on transplanting strawberries.
Rob,
Yes, remove the brown/dead foliage. It no longer helps the plant but can be infected with diseases or provide a haven for fungi if it falls to the ground and rots. You don’t have to clip the runner plants once they are rooted as the connections will shrivel and break on their own eventually, but you can if you would like. It won’t hurt either plant. For more help, be sure to check out the Growing Strawberries page.
Hi, I planted my Strawberry plants in large hanging baskets in my Polly Tunnel, they stoped producing fruit about a month ago, Now this my first time I have ever growen anything let alone Strawberries, I fully expected them to die off for the winter but there they hang strong and healthy, On reading your artical I now realise I should have Mowed them, Is it to late if so what should I do I have transplanted several runners and they are doing nicely
I have ever bearing strawberries that produce small berries. Do I prune these or not. You said not to prune after August lst. but is that just for the June bearing variety? Not at all sure what I should do this winter and it is September, nearly October now :< Thank you.
Shirley
pat,
At this point, it is probably best to get them ready for winter. Check the Growing Strawberries reference page for all the details.
Shirley,
Thanks for stopping by! The details of yearly strawberry care can be found on the Growing Strawberries reference page. For a general month-by-month overview of strawberry care, see here: Monthly Growing Strawberries Guide.
I just mowed my strawberry plants and cleaned out the dead foliage yesterday, should I mulch with straw or pine needles now?
Susan,
Yes, feel free to mulch only between the remaining crowns at this time. That can help minimize weeds. However, don’t confuse mulching now with pre-winter mulching, which is much heavier. Winterizing your strawberry beds to preserve your perennial strawberries over the freezing months will help them avoid cold injury and will be a much heavier mulch application. Good luck!
I have a bed of strawberries that are around 2 or 3 years old now and it’s gotten very thick, they are budding a lot now but there is a lot of dead leaves and runners under them, can i pull out all the older plants that are not budding to clean it out without effecting the new ones? I have already taken out the oldest ones and moved the new runners and seems it just got very thick again.
Dylan,
Yes, you can remove the older plants without harming the new runner plants as long as there is enough space between the two. However, the older plants likely have more established root systems than the newer ones. I’d recommend transplanting the newer ones instead of uprooting the old ones. See this page for a how-to: Transplanting Strawberry Plants
My father mowed my strawberry patch a week ago – They are ever-bearing. I did not know he was going to do this. Are my plants gone for good?
Sarah,
No, probably not. That was very kind of him to try to help you out! As long as he didn’t set the mower blades too low and damage the crowns, they should be fine.
I just read that I should have trimmed back my strawberry plants before now. Is it too late (now near September) to trim the plants back? How far back should they be trimmed? Thanks.
firedancer,
You can probably still do it, although the window is closing. You need to clear out the dead plant material from amongst your plants either way, however. As long as the crown at ground level is unharmed, your plants should be fine. Good luck!
Mr. Strawberry,
I have a bed of 25 first year Allstar June bearing strawberries. What should I do to prepare them for the winter months ahead and what is the first thing I should do this coming spring? As you can probably tell I am a beginner at this.
Thanks
Howard,
I’d recommend starting here: Growing Strawberries. Pay special attention to all specific articles that are linked at the bottom of the page under the “More” section. That should get you off on the road to success! Good luck!
I planted strawberry plants this year but did not mow them off.Will this harm my spring crop? Should I get rid of dead leaves and stems in the spring when I uncover them? What other advise can you give?
Thanks for your advise,
Dave
David,
Failing to mow the strawberries shouldn’t harm your crop this spring as long as you don’t get fungal or other infections. Yes, do get rid of the dead leaves in the spring. As for other advice, this site is full of it! Start here: growing strawberries. Good luck!