Woodland strawberry
Wild strawberry flowers
Flower and fruit Fragaria vesca
Wild strawberries
Wild strawberry
Contents
Find all our tips in the Monstera application
Fragaria vesca, the wild strawberry
Contents
Find all our tips in the Monstera application
No need to spend hours in the forest to pick wild strawberries for your snack! It's true that the wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is a wild plant, found on almost every continent. But scientists have also developed numerous cultivars, which are grown all over the world for their tasty fruit.
How to recognize the wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)?
Smaller than , (Fragaria x ananassa), the wild strawberryrarely exceeds20 cm in height and 30 cm in spread. It is a herbaceous perennial with a creeping habit, whose runners enable it to spread rapidly.
Leaves are arranged in a rosette and borne on a long stalk covered with fine hairs. They are composed of three oval leaflets with toothed margins. The leaf blade is bright green on the upper side, with a more glaucous, hairy underside.
Woodland strawberry flowers in spring. The flowers rise above the foliage on their long stalks. Each has five rounded, white petals, surrounded by a green calyx, and a floral heart made up of yellow stamens.
Wild strawberries are ovoid, measuring around one centimetre. Botanically speaking, they are false fruits: they develop from the floral receptacle. The real fruits are the achenes, visible on the surface as small seeds.
The wild strawberries sold commercially and grown in our gardens and kitchen gardens are remontant varieties. They produce strawberries several times a year. Fruit size, color and taste vary slightly from one cultivar to another.
If the fruit is edible, the rest of the plant is non-toxic. You can grow Fragaria vesca without risk to yourself or your pets.
Our maintenance tips
Woodland strawberry are greedy plants. Change their soil or location every three years so they don't exhaust the soil. Take the opportunity to renew your plants so that they continue to be productive.
Watering
Water your plant generously during the growing season.
Woodland strawberry like to keep their base moist, especially during the flowering and fruiting period.
Water your Woodland strawberry at the base, taking care not to wet the leaves. Preferably use rainwater at room temperature.
Adapt your watering when the days get shorter.
Water the base of your Woodland strawberry when the substrate surface is dry. Do not wet the leaves to avoid the development of diseases and fungi. Watering is best done with rainwater at room temperature.
Water moderately to keep the soil fresh. Avoid watering if the ground is frozen to preserve the roots.
Repotting
Soak your Woodland strawberry to rehydrate its roots.
Get a perforated container (pot, planter, tub, etc.). Line the bottom with clay balls or gravel to improve drainage. Then pour in a layer of soil. Choose a rich substrate, such as potting soil or a mixture of garden soil, sand and leaf compost or compost.
Plant your Woodland strawberry without burying the crown, leaving a distance of at least 25 centimetres between the individual plants.
Tamp lightly and water to encourage rooting. You can also mulch the base to retain moisture and limit watering.
Fertilization
Woodland strawberry are greedy. Your harvest will be more abundant if you fertilize them with a special strawberry or fruit tree fertilizer.
Apply a dose of compost at the foot of the plant.
Prune
To encourage the growth of your Woodland strawberry, prune regularly.
Remove stained, damaged or dry leaves to prevent fungus. Also cut stolons to avoid exhausting the plant.
Use clean, sharp pruning shears to facilitate healing and prevent the spread of disease.
In addition, remove any weeds that may be hindering the growth of your Woodland strawberry.
In addition, remove any weeds that may be hindering the growth of your Woodland strawberry.
Woodland strawberry deplete the soil after a few years. Pull up your plants and plant them elsewhere. You can use the opportunity to renew them.
Plantation
Soak the root ball of your Woodland strawberry to rehydrate the roots. Meanwhile, prepare the soil. Spade and remove stones, roots and weeds. Mix the soil with a base fertilizer, manure or compost.
Form mounds about 60 centimetres high, with a 50-centimetre path on either side. The height prevents water from stagnating at root level, and the pathway makes picking easier.
Plant each Fragaria vesca at the top of the mound. Make sure the crown is not buried. If you're planting several plants, space them at least 25 centimetres apart. Fill in the hole with garden soil or universal potting compost.
Tamp gently and water generously to encourage rooting.
Woodland strawberry like cool soil. Mulch to retain moisture and limit the spread of weeds.
Seedling
At , seeds need cold to germinate.
Place the seed packet in an airtight container and refrigerate for two to four weeks. Alternatively, place the seeds on damp paper towels and seal in an airtight food bag before placing in the fridge.
Pour special potting soil for seedlings and cuttings into an unperforated tray or bowl. Tamp the surface to even out the soil.
Spread the seeds over the surface of the potting soil and press lightly with your fingers to ensure contact with the soil.
Spray with water to moisten the substrate without displacing the seeds.
Cover the seedling with plastic film or a cloche to retain moisture. Place in a bright spot at a temperature of around 18-22°C. Mist regularly to keep the substrate moist.
Cutting
Cutting takes place in autumn.
Locate a stolon (an aerial stem with the beginnings of a root). Remove this seedling with a sharp, clean tool.
Plant the roots of your stolon in the ground and hold it in place with an iron rider.
You can plant your stolon in the ground, next to the mother plant, or in a pot filled with garden soil or universal potting compost and placed nearby. Water generously. At this stage, your stolon is still attached to the main plant.
Diseases / Threats
Information
| Family | Rosaceae - Rosaceae |
| Type | Strawberry - Fragaria |
| Species | Woodland strawberry - Fragaria vesca |
| Lifecycle | Perennial |
| Foliage | Semi-evergreen |
| Exposure | |
| Substrat | |
| Planting methods |
Open ground In pots In tubs Planter |
| Category | |
| Tags |
Edible fruit Beginner Rustic |
| Origins |
Northern Europe Eastern Europe Southern Europe Western Europe North America Central America |
| Hardiness (USDA) | 5b |
| Leaf color |
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| Flower color |
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| Fruit colors |
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