From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] North side
Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 09:51:32 -0500
I live in Northern VA (zone 6b) and have all of my strawberries (> 100
plants) on the north side, 2-3 feet from the house and they have done
wonderfully for 18 years!
I'm curious if anyone else has grown strawberries on the north side of
their house. This would be a perfect place for me, since it's nothing
but grass and lily of the valley right now. But I've got a tall house,
and it wouldn't get sun except for a bit in the morning and then very
late in the afternoon.
I planted strawberries near my apple and pear trees, thinking that I'd
enjoy them until the trees got bigger. They're doing great, but I
discovered that I can't work around the fruit trees with the
strawberries underfoot. And I have to watch what I spray when the
strawberries are blooming. But, I must admit that I'm enjoying them so
much that I don't want to get rid of them entirely.
The biggest problem I have with strawberries is trying to keep them
watered during our hot, dry summers. So the north side of the house
might actually help with that. I just wonder if they'll do well enough
here (Nebraska, zone 5) in so much shade. Barbara's suggestion sounds
great to me, but has anyone else here tried it? I thought it might be
helpful to ask.
Thanks,
Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)
--
We can only wonder what a Manhattan Project aimed at alternative energy
might have accomplished by now, had it been started 15 years ago. What
we have had in lieu of vision, leadership, and backbone is a series of
easy paths taken. - Jeremy Grantham