Why Strawberries Belong in a Hanging Basket

If your growing space amounts to a balcony, a windowsill or a small paved courtyard, a hanging basket is one of the kindest ways to grow strawberries. The fruit dangles over the rim rather than resting on damp ground, which keeps it clean and cuts slug and snail damage dramatically. Air moves freely around the plants, so grey mould has far less chance to take hold, and you can pick at eye level instead of grovelling about on your hands and knees. A single well-planted basket can keep you in berries for months.

There is one catch: baskets dry out fast, and strawberries are thirsty, hungry plants. Get the watering and feeding right and you will wonder why you ever grew them any other way.

Choose Everbearing Varieties

Strawberries fall into two useful groups. Traditional June-bearers give one heavy crop over three or four weeks in early summer and then stop. Everbearing types — more accurately called remontant or perpetual — flower and fruit in flushes from early summer right through to the first frosts. For a basket, everbearers are almost always the better choice, because the harvest is spread out and the plants tend to stay compact.

Look for:

• Remontant cultivars such as 'Flamenco', 'Mara des Bois' or 'Everest', which crop repeatedly across the season.
• Alpine strawberries like 'Mignonette' or 'Alexandria' — tiny, intensely flavoured berries on neat plants that rarely throw runners.
• Disease-resistant modern types if you have lost plants to mildew or wilt before.

Buy bare-root crowns in early spring or young potted plants in April. Avoid tired, yellowed specimens — you want firm crowns and fresh green leaves.

Baskets, Liners and Compost

A basket of around 35–40cm across will comfortably hold five or six plants. Woven willow, coir or a good quality felt liner holds moisture far better than a thin plastic liner alone; line the base with a disc of polythene or old compost bag with a few drainage holes punched through to stop water running straight out.

For compost, mix a peat-free multipurpose with a couple of handfuls of loam-based compost to give it body, plus a slow-release general fertiliser. A scoop of water-retaining granules is worth the small expense — in a basket they genuinely make a difference. Never fill a basket with garden soil alone; it sets like brick.

Planting Up

Plant in late April or early May once hard frosts have passed. Water the plants well an hour beforehand and tease out any tightly coiled roots.

• Set the crown — the thick growing point where the leaves emerge — level with the compost surface. Bury it and the plant will rot; leave it proud and it will dry out.
• Space plants about 20cm apart around the top, with a few pushed through slits in the side of the liner for extra crop.
• To plant through the side, wrap the leaves loosely around your fingers, push the rootball through from inside, then firm it in.
• Water in gently and keep the basket in a sheltered, bright spot for a week before hanging it in its final position.

Watering and Feeding

This is where most baskets fail. A 35cm basket in full summer sun can lose a litre of water a day. Water every morning without fail, then check again in the evening during July and August. Push a finger 2cm into the compost — if it feels dry, water until it trickles from the base. A basket that dries out completely is very hard to bring back, and the flowers will drop.

Feeding matters just as much. Once the first flowers open, give a high-potash tomato feed every ten to fourteen days, diluted as directed. Avoid nitrogen-heavy general feeds, which produce lush leaves and virtually no fruit. A seaweed tonic once a month keeps plants in good heart.

Position, Pests and Aftercare

Hang baskets where they get at least six hours of sun a day — a south or west-facing wall is ideal. Shelter them from strong wind, because swinging baskets bruise the fruit and snap the stems.

Pests are fewer than at ground level, but not absent. Birds will strip a crop in a single morning, so drape netting over the basket once the berries begin to colour. Wasps appear in late summer, so pick promptly. Remove runners as they appear — they divert energy away from fruiting — though you can pot up one or two in July if you want new plants for next year.

Pick berries when they are deep red all over and eat them the same day; hanging-basket strawberries rarely make it as far as the fridge. Once cropping ends, tidy away old leaves and move the basket to a cold greenhouse, shed or a sheltered wall for winter, watering sparingly but never letting it dry out completely. Many growers simply replant fresh crowns each spring, which is no bad policy — a fresh basket, planted well, will reward you generously all summer long.