Berry crops such as strawberries are often grown by domestic gardeners in their dachas and vegetable gardens. This is not surprising, since the berry is tasty and healthy. But many do not think that strawberries are also beautiful, and they may well become a full-fledged element of landscape design.

Strawberries in the landscape

Traditionally, strawberries are planted in the beds. But recently, the berry, due to its high aesthetic characteristics, has become a decoration of the garden. All it takes to make strawberries a landscaping element is to place them in a flower garden. At the same time, a strawberry flower bed can be any: single-tiered, multi-tiered. Even a vertical version is possible.

Bushes with berries can be combined with other plants, but with strict adherence to agrotechnical requirements and crop rotation. Otherwise, the strawberry harvest will leave much to be desired or die altogether.

Vertical flower bed for strawberries

Different varieties of strawberries nearby

Many gardeners are wondering if it is possible to plant different varieties of strawberries in the same garden bed or in the same flower bed.

Flowerbed with peonies

There is a point of view among summer residents that planting different varieties of crops such as strawberries and strawberries together will lead to their mixing or even degeneration. They blame over-pollination. Indeed, the same insects will pollinate nearby growing plants, but this is unlikely to cause any damage to the crops.

Any breeder will make a very convincing argument for this:

  • What is considered a strawberry berry is in fact an overgrown receptacle of the plant. He will retain his maternal characteristics, regardless of whether mixing with the pollen of neighboring flowers occurs during fertilization.
  • The principle outlined above also works with mustaches and daughter sockets.
  • Strawberry seeds are blotches on the receptacle. They depend on the composition of the pollen, but they have no effect on the quality and appearance of strawberries. Strawberries are propagated advantage vegetatively, and not from seeds, therefore its varietal characteristics will be preserved in case of cross-pollination.

On a note. Summarizing the above, the answer to the question: is it possible to plant different varieties of strawberries next to each other, will be unambiguous - no harm should be expected from such a neighborhood.

Beds for strawberries

Multi-tiered flower bed

As many years of gardening practice show, strawberries grow in flower beds no worse than in the beds. The most important thing is not to be mistaken when choosing a landing site. It must be sunny. Do not plant berries in close proximity to trees. The chemicals used to spray them can seriously harm the strawberries. It is not recommended to place flower beds with strawberries in the lowlands - cold air stagnates there. It is recommended to choose loamy-sandy soils with a high organic content.

You can grow strawberries in horizontal, vertical (or raised) flower beds.

The easiest way is to build a horizontal flower bed. Any material is suitable for it: a plastic bottle, a tire, a plastic pipe, a brick, etc.

But this option has several obvious disadvantages:

  • the plantation will often need weeding;
  • if the groundwater rises too high, it can harm the plant;
  • pets or birds can trample the plantings.

In this regard, many summer residents prefer to build raised (high) flower beds and additionally cover the surfaces with material that prevents the growth of weeds (we are talking about mulch).

The advantages of vertical beds

Coniferous flower bed

Vertical strawberry beds have a number of distinct advantages. Planting crops in such beds allows you to control the amount of moisture entering the plant. In addition, the roots that are underground will be reliably protected from freezing in early spring, and with significant temperature changes, it will not be difficult to wrap such a flower bed with a film.

It will be convenient to look after the culture - you do not need to bend too much.

The only drawback of such designs is the lack of power. But this problem is easily solved by more frequent feeding of strawberries.

Multi-tiered flower bed

Another great vertical solution is the production of multi-tiered strawberry beds. If desired, it can be made by hand.

Various materials can be used for its construction: bricks, curb stones, containers of different sizes and old tires, wooden boxes, etc. You can also buy ready-made forms in the store, which will only have to be installed, focusing on the drawing or instructions supplied by the manufacturer.

Tiered flower bed made of stone

A multi-tiered flower bed can be built of stone.

For work, you can use the following materials:

  • brick break;
  • stones;
  • crushed stone;
  • construction garbage.

Most often, a multi-tiered flower bed is laid out of stone. Moreover, each tier and material are fixed to each other with a cement mortar. Most often, a three-tiered version of a flower bed is made. In this case, the middle tier is necessarily laid out with low sides, the upper one - with stones of a smaller diameter.

Drainage is poured at the bottom of the structure, then a layer of soil mixture is laid, after which the soil is watered, and the plants are planted.

Council. When using a multi-row flower bed, it is more expedient to place large plants on the lower level. So the flower bed will look more aesthetically pleasing.

Tier flower bed made of saw cut wood

You can also grow strawberries in a flower bed from a saw cut from a tree. It must have at least two tiers. But more can be foreseen. In principle, the height is not limited, the most important thing is that the hand can reach the growth to ensure its care.

To make such a bed, you will need to complete the following list of works:

  • pick up the same diameter and length cuts of a tree;
  • dig pegs into the ground around the entire perimeter of the future flower bed;
  • dig a ditch around the perimeter (slightly wider than the diameter of the boards);
  • insert boards into a dug ditch in advance according to the principle of a palisade;
  • cover everything with earth;
  • when forming each subsequent tier, the work is carried out according to a similar principle - only the length of the boards for each subsequent floor should be slightly less.

Further care

After planting strawberries in a flower bed, proper care should be taken. You should take care of the plant in exactly the same way as if it was growing in an ordinary garden bed: water, feed, mulch and weed out in time.