How to make vertical beds for growing strawberries with your own hands

A personal plot can be as large as desired, but there is always not enough space for a passionate person. I would like to plant vegetables, berry bushes, and fruit trees, and have a place for a greenhouse and a flower bed. Favorite crops require a lot of space. But, for example, you can create vertical beds for strawberries, thus providing them with a lot of light and the necessary space. This method allows you to significantly increase the number of planted bushes.

Specifics of vertical growing

There are many examples of constructing vertical beds. By the way, this method can be used when planting other plants, but we are interested in strawberries. She takes root well in such an unusual garden bed. And how beautiful it looks!

When creating beds, you are limited only by your imagination, because the materials from which you can create such a structure can be anything.

Advantages and disadvantages of the method

If we compare vertical growing with the usual method, the advantages are obvious:

• space on the site is significantly saved;
• the berries remain dry and clean throughout the season, regardless of the weather;
• most pests are simply not able to get to the berries;
• the problem of weeds disappears;
• fertilizers are absorbed as much as possible;
• convenient to harvest;
• the garden bed will decorate the site.

But not everything is so rosy. There are also disadvantages:

1. The soil will dry out soon, so you will have to water the plant regularly.
2. Use only liquid fertilizers.
3. Do not leave it over the winter. The strawberries will freeze. You will have to move the bed indoors if it is not possible to close it well in place.

Strawberry varieties for vertical growing

Experienced gardeners make recommendations for choosing strawberry varieties that bear fruit best when grown in vertical beds. We are talking about remontant, ampelous strawberries and varieties of neutral daylight hours. From these types of berry crops you will achieve continuous fruiting. These varieties are most often chosen.

Queen Elizabeth

Remontant variety. Several harvests per season, from summer to mid-autumn, in total - up to two kilograms per bush. Resistant to pests and diseases.Queen number two is a large-fruited variety. Allows you to collect up to ten kilograms per season.

Alba

The variety is very early. Curly strawberry. Resistant to frost. Easy to transport. Productivity – 1.2 kilograms.

Homemade delicacy

The variety is remontant, decorative. Ripens early. Often used as decoration for balconies and loggias.

Ostara

The variety is ampelous, Dutch. Small sweet and sour berries. The weak point is the horse system - it is susceptible to diseases.

How to vertically grow strawberries with your own hands

Of course, it is also possible to equip a permanent structure. But how to do this without having rolled metal or new pipes or boards if you are building a vertical bed. When there is nothing like this, and there is little space, take a closer look at the materials at hand. On the site you may find things that are very necessary for this task: boxes, bags, boards, pipe scraps, plastic bottles, barrels and much more.

Beds in pipes

This method of planting strawberries is quite unusual and interesting. It allows you to get good yields and has become very popular. You can place PVC pipes vertically or horizontally. In any case, choose two: one up to 200 millimeters in diameter, and the other thinner, tap water.

First, you should carry out some manipulations with the pipes, adapting them and then planting strawberry seedlings.

Step by step:

1. Cut holes 15 centimeters in diameter at a distance of 20 centimeters from one another. If the pipe is intended for vertical placement, arrange the holes in a checkerboard pattern. These will become the holes in which you plant the strawberries.
2. Create a drip irrigation system. A thin pipe (water pipe will also work) with several holes drilled in it will come in handy.
3. Insert the irrigation pipe into the larger pipe.
4. Make several holes at the bottom of the pipe. This is necessary to prevent water from accumulating. Its excess contributes to root rot, the formation of fungus, and powdery mildew.
5. Close the larger pipe with plugs. It is recommended to use wooden mugs for them.
6. Fill the pipe with soil.
7. Moisten the soil.

You can plant seedlings.

In plastic bottles

It seems that a more economical material cannot exist. For vertical plantings, many gardeners use 5-liter bottles. In any supermarket they sell drinking water or technical liquid.

The container is cut into two halves. One with a lid. It is in it, previously inverted, that the strawberries will be planted. In this case, the lid does not screw tightly. This will allow excess liquid to flow freely into the tray, the role of which will be played by the second part of the bottle.

Before planting seedlings in such a “pot,” the bottom is lined with a thin layer of drainage (hydrogel is possible). Sometimes a synthetic winterizer plays this role - it retains water and then returns it to the dry soil.

In a barrel

If you have an extra barrel in your garden plot (the size doesn’t matter, neither does the material), it will make an excellent strawberry bed. You'll have to work on it. First, clean off rust and other dirt, drill holes in the bottom, and place drainage (crushed stone, pebbles). Then install a perforated irrigation pipe. Now cut holes in the walls of the barrel. A 10 cm slot is enough.

You can gradually fill the barrel. It is better to plant the lower tier with aromatic herbs. They will prevent acidification of the soil. And then plant strawberries over the entire surface.

Plank pyramids

Today it is not uncommon to build pyramids in the countryside, specifically for planting strawberries.

From the boards, a pyramid is obtained of the correct shape and allows you to plant berries in tiers. This is done simply. They put together several bottomless boxes, 20-25 centimeters high and smaller and smaller in size. An irrigation pipe is driven into the ground. Holes are made in advance for water. And then the boxes are placed one after another.

1. First, the largest one; fertile soil is poured into it.
2. On top - a little less, and the earth is poured again. And so on down to the smallest detail.
3. An irrigation hose is fitted over the end of the pipe.

Plantings are placed around the perimeter of each box.

Tire pyramids

Build a pyramid of car tires on your summer cottage. It is better if the tires are of different diameters. Strawberries will begin to grow along the perimeter of each tier. The more tiers, the more impressive the design. The more tires, the more options for the flower bed. All tires are the same – that’s not bad either. You will end up with a cylindrical bed. And to plant strawberries, you need to make side holes in the tires.

Important! Tires are toxic material. In addition, in the sun they can emit an unpleasant odor. And this is their biggest drawback. Gardeners often paint tires with paint. This minimizes the unpleasant consequences of using such material.

Strawberries in bags

Any plastic bag of impressive size filled with soil can be used as an almost finished bed. To plant strawberries in it, just place an irrigation pipe with holes vertically inside the bag and make slits in the walls. It is in them that the seedlings are planted.It is enough for there to be 20 centimeters between the slots. Yes, the optimal bag capacity is 50 liters.

Possible errors during cultivation

The main mistake that gardeners and gardeners make is using land of dubious quality. It is not recommended to take the one in which you grew house plants. Don’t forget to water your strawberries often so that the soil doesn’t dry out.

If you leave such a structure uninsulated for the winter, the plant will freeze, even if the variety is winter-hardy.

If growing strawberries vertically seems incredibly difficult to you, don’t despair. This is at first glance. It won't be easy at first. But after gaining practical experience, you will want to take it seriously. There will even be a surplus that can be sold, thereby replenishing the family cash register.