NEXT week sees the start of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships, which bring thoughts of strawberries and cream to mind. Strawberries have taken a bit of a pounding of late due to the heavy rain, which can lead to mouldy fruits and additional damage from slugs and snails. But if you have provided your crops with ample protection - covering them with net tunnel cloches to stop birds from pecking at them and keeping slugs at bay by going on night hunts with a torch and picking them off by hand, or setting beer traps - you should be harvesting healthy strawberries from now on for the next few weeks. Unlike many other soft fruits, strawberries fit in any sunny border in well drained but moisture retentive soil. Alternatively, you can grow them in raised beds or pots, which will need liquid feeding regularly during the growing season and should be moved around on a three-year cycle. For the best results, young plants should be planted in August or September to be established in time to start cropping the following summer, although most mail order suppliers sell bare-rooted plants in October and November. You can, of course, buy strawberry plants in late autumn or spring, but you might find that the first year’s crop is lighter than that of those planted earlier. If you have plenty of space you can plant the strawberry plants 45cm (18in) apart, with 90cm (3ft) between rows, although in other situations such as raised beds or pots, plants can be placed closer together provided you feed them well on a regular basis. On beds, spread a layer of garden compost or use a general fertiliser such as Growmore in spring. In early summer, when the fruits are forming, place straw or synthetic strawberry mats on the ground around the plants to stop the rain splashing up mud onto the strawberries and preventing the excessive damp which causes fruits to rot. If you have to water the plants (which, given the recent weather we’ve been having, is unlikely) water carefully between the strawberries to avoid the leaves and fruits getting wet. Once cropping has finished, remove old foliage. There are many new varieties of strawberries on offer and recently Which? Gardening, the Consumers’ Association magazine, grew 18 new types and asked children and adults to select their favourites. Researchers bought the strawberries as bare-rooted plants in autumn 2005 and planted 20 of each variety 30cm apart and 60cm between rows. The best crop comes in the second year, so assessments were made in 2007. Favourites included Alice (Mr Fothergill’s - 0845 166 2511, Thompson and Morgan - 01473 695 200, and other stockists), a vigorous plant producing large amounts of big, glossy fruits on long stalks which seemed to help prevent fruit from growing mouldy. They were harvested from mid-June and provided the longest cropping season. Other good varieties included Elsanta (Blackmoor Nursery - 01420 473 576, Highfield Nurseries - 01452 740 266, RV Roger - 01751 472 226, Welsh Fruit Stocks - 01497 851 209), which was rated well for appearance and texture, and the later cropper Amelia (Mr Fothergill’s), which fared well with all the tasters, although the yield was slightly less than other crops. | 
