Wild strawberry

The wild strawberry is fully hardy and survives a Central European winter in the bed without protection. In autumn, remove only diseased or dead leaves; cutting back is not necessary. In a container the roots get colder: place the pot in a sheltered spot against a house wall and wrap it in horticultural fleece or hessian.

The wild strawberry can be propagated reliably in three ways:

Sowing (seeds): Wild strawberries are light germinators: simply lay the tiny seeds on moist seed compost and do not cover them with soil. It is best to sow from February to March on a windowsill at around 18 to 20 °C, or directly outdoors in August (the cold-stratification variant, where the seeds then overwinter naturally). A cool, moist pre-treatment of the seeds over a few weeks can improve germination. Germination takes two to four weeks at room temperature. Keep the sowing evenly moist, which is easiest with a spray bottle. Once the seedlings have four leaflets and are about 5 cm tall, prick them out and plant them in the bed from mid-May. True to seed: the wild form and non-hybrid varieties come true from seed.

Runners: In summer the wild form produces long, creeping runners, and new rosettes root at their tips. Simply pin the rosettes, still attached to the mother plant, onto a small pot of soil, fix the runner with a wire staple and detach the young plant once it has formed roots of its own after about four to six weeks. Advantage: a plant true to type, well developed straight away. Note: many cultivated and alpine strawberry varieties (‘Rügen’, ‘Alexandria’) form few or no runners and are therefore better propagated by seed or division.

Division: In spring (March/April) or autumn (September/October), lift older clumps and divide them with a clean spade into several pieces, each with at least one or two strong shoots and roots. Plant the divisions straight away in their final position and water them in well. Division is advisable every three to four years anyway, since old clumps lose vigour.