Choosing planting

The best space-saving ideas for growing strawberries

Tips and advice for abundant harvests

Contents

Modified this week by Arthur 4 min. Difficulty: Débutant

The return of sunny days has us craving strawberries! What a pleasure to enjoy them plain, with sugar or cream, in jam, as sorbet or ice cream, or on a tart to fully enjoy their exceptional aroma. These small red fruits with exquisite aroma are among the French people’s favourite fruits, thanks to their sweet flavour and their ease of growing. In a small garden, on a terrace or balcony in town, it can be difficult to have the space needed to grow them. Fortunately, strawberries are among the small fruits that are easy to grow even in restricted space. Strawberry plants adapt perfectly to soilless culture, in pots, window boxes or hanging baskets, in an upcycled pallet, in a strawberry tower or even in PVC tubes. Strawberries gain height, and the space-saving trend will bring plenty of joy to your vertical orchard! Here are our tips that require little ground space and promise generous harvests even in the tightest spaces.

Difficulty

The best space-saving strawberry plants

All strawberries are suitable for vertical growing. However, it is best to favour repeat-flowering, productive varieties, and those particularly suited to growing in pots or hanging baskets. The climbing strawberry ‘Mount Everest’ is ideal for small spaces, as it can be trained up a support (trellis, tepee…) to reach 1.2 m high or installed in hanging baskets to trail down along them. With its trailing habit, the F1 ‘Toscana Deep Rose’ strawberry is perfect for growing in pots or hanging baskets. The woodland strawberry ‘Temptation’, a variety of woodland strawberries, also grows very well in pots, in window boxes or in hanging baskets. Just be sure to stagger harvests by mixing strawberry varieties, repeat-flowering and non-repeat-flowering.

Varieties of strawberries that take up little space in the garden

The climbing strawberry ‘Mount Everest’ and the strawberry ‘Toscana Deep Rose’

The advantages of growing strawberries by optimising space

One of the most obvious advantages of growing strawberry plants off the ground is space optimisation. By using pots, hanging baskets, strawberry towers or pallets, it is possible to grow a large number of plants on a small footprint. A strategy that allows you to enjoy abundant harvests, even in the smallest spaces, such as balconies, terraces or urban gardens. By growing the strawberry plants higher up or in containers, it also makes maintenance and harvesting easier, as the fruit will be at waist height. It is easier to monitor the condition of the plants, water, weed and protect the strawberries from diseases and pests. Moreover, the fruits are more accessible and less likely to be damaged by contact with soil. Moreover, the fruits are more accessible and less likely to be damaged by contact with soil. By optimising space and providing better access to light, air and water, this method of cultivation promotes the growth and development of strawberry plants.

→ Discover our tutorial How to build a strawberry tower!

Utilising vertical space

All well-exposed vertical surfaces, and even those devoid of soil, can be used to gain a few precious square metres of growing space: the facade of the house, the garage or a garden shed, a fence, a pergola or a gazebo, a trellis, balcony rails or balustrades offer as many layout options. And it doesn’t matter what container you use, provided you’re keen to grow! One caveat, however: it is essential to choose containers of an appropriate size for the development of the strawberry young plant, with a depth of about 20 cm. In addition, ensure that it is properly perforated to allow good drainage of irrigation water or rainwater. Indeed, poor drainage of the pots could cause the strawberry plants to rot.

Strawberries in hanging planters to save space

Hanging planters attached to a wall

Our ideas for growing strawberries without soil

Here are our clever ideas for growing strawberries whilst optimising space:

A strawberry tower: an inventive solution for growing a large number of plants on a small area. It can be made from various materials such as a perforated barrel, tubes or PVC gutters. It helps optimise space and to facilitate harvesting, while offering an aesthetic and original look. Additionally, growing in height reduces the risk of diseases and pests.
A strawberry fountain: this is a variant of the strawberry tower, which blends aesthetics and space-saving. It usually consists of several levels of planting, arranged in a circle around a central axis. You can stack terracotta pots (or plastic pots) held by a stake that passes through the drainage holes. Water is conveyed from top to bottom, watering the plants as it passes.

On the left, a strawberry fountain made with stacked pots. On the right, a small strawberry tower made from a terracotta pot.

A repurposed pallet box: The pallet box is an economical and ecological solution for growing strawberries in a compact space. Simply source an untreated wooden pallet to avoid any risk of strawberry contamination from chemicals, cover the pallet with geotextile fabric, fill with potting compost and plant your strawberries in the gaps. You can then place the pallet vertically against a wall or tilt it to ease watering and harvesting.
Hanging pots and planters: They help save ground space and make use of available height to grow strawberries on a balcony or terrace. Choose lightweight, well-drained containers, and ensure regular watering.
Grow bags: an interesting alternative to traditional pots and planters. They are lightweight and easy to move. Simply fill them with an appropriate substrate, punch holes for aeration and drainage, and plant your strawberries there. You can then place the bags on your balcony, terrace, or even on a wall, provided they are securely fixed.
A living wall: install an appropriate structure (mesh, trellis, felt pockets, etc.) on a wall or fence, then plant your strawberries so as to cover the entire support. In addition to saving ground space, this technique creates a real plant display.
A strawberry ladder: a simple wooden ladder, to which pots or planters can be fixed to the rungs to grow strawberries, will thus become a cascade of strawberries!
Raised wooden beds: they allow growing strawberries in a compact space, while making maintenance and harvesting easier.