HIGH RISE STRAWBERRIES

The best ideas are always someone else’s and now we’re experimenting with a little project based on a picture I’d cut out of one of those glossy Sunday supplements.  This picture was part of an article on the art of making the most of space available on patios, a kind of IKEA for gardeners and explained how strawberries could be grown up a wall instead of in conventional flower beds or pots.  Genius!

The idea is simplicity itself.  Take a length of sturdy guttering, bolt it onto a sunny wall using special brackets and hey presto, you have a high rise strawberry bed.

2014 has been a ‘berry’ good year.  All our fruit plants are busy cropping for England but the toughest part has been grabbing the ripened berries before all the slugs, snails and cheesy-bugs do.  I’m hoping this high rise strawberry idea might help reduce garden pests snacking on our delicious berries.

Building high rise strawberry beds has not proven difficult or expensive.  You can pick up some nice sturdy square shaped guttering from B&Q in short lengths of about 2 M which can then be cut to size using a hand saw.

Square guttering from B&Q comes in brown, black or white

Can be easily cut to size to fit your wall

We’ve gone for a double decker approach using 2 x 2M lengths of guttering (£11.58), 6 x brackets (£6.24) and 4 x square stop ends (£7.96).  Total project cost £25.78 (excluding screws).  A gap of about 13 inches has been left between each length of guttering to allow for plant growth and holes drilled along the bottom for drainage. 

Screw brackets onto wall at a suitable height

Put stops on each end of guttering and clip onto brackets

You can have as many rows up the wall as you like

As you can see from our photos, it is a neat space saving idea and a good way of making use of an otherwise unused area.  Our strawberry plants are already putting out runners so it’s just a case of transplanting a few baby plants into their new high rise home and hoping they like it.