Matted Row System

There are many ways you can grow strawberries: in containers, keyhole gardens, towers, vertical gardens, on windowsills, or in the ground. One method that has withstood the test of time is the matted row system.

Strawberries grown in a matted row system (Dietmar Rabich) CC BY-SA 4.0

The matted row system takes advantage of the natural behavior of strawberry plants to produce some of the best strawberries for your gardening efforts. It takes longer to harvest the first crop, usually 12 months, but I think the long-term benefits outweigh the initial wait.
 
Commercially, strawberries are grown as annuals. Runners are removed, forcing plants to focus on root and fruit formation. This results in harvests in as little as 7 or 8 months. After harvesting, the plants are removed, and you start over again the next year. In the matted row system, strawberry plants are allowed to produce intertwining runners, creating daughter plants. This tangle of runners creates a matted row of strawberry plants. Each of these plants provides daughter plants for the next growing season, for up to 5 years.
 
The downside of using the matted row system is that you will have to tend your strawberry plants all year. Of course, you won’t need to buy strawberry plants for a very long time.
 
How to prepare a matted row system
 
Assuming you have already created healthy soil in your garden and had your soil tested, you will make rows that are 3 feet apart, keeping the plants in a strip less than two feet wide. The plants in the middle of wider rows do not produce very well. Narrower rows make picking all those luscious red fruits easier!
 
Mulching the space between the rows will help maintain soil moisture and stabilize temperatures. It also cuts down on weeds.
 
Strawberry plant placement recommendations range from placing plants 12 to 15 inches apart to spacing them 18 to 30 inches apart. I suppose it depends on too many variables to say for sure. Soil texture and structure, USDA Plant Hardiness Zone, drainage, and all those other factors that affect our plants play their part. My suggestion: play with it and see what plant spacing works best for you in your garden.
 
In contrast, the other methods of growing strawberries manage those runners in different ways:

• Hill system—all runners are removed; plants set one foot apart in multiple rows
• Spaced row system—only a few daughters allowed to remain; spaced at least 4 inches apart

 
 
Which strawberry varieties should you choose?
 
Any June-bearing strawberry variety can be grown using the matted row system, regardless of whether they are day-neutral or everbearing. Some of the more popular varieties include Allstar, Benton, Cavendish, Delmarvel, Earliglow, Honeoye, Hood, Jewel, Rainer, and Totem. Of course, new varieties are always fun to try!
 
Matted row system plant care
 
As runners appear, they are coaxed into staying in their row and at least 4 inches apart. Regular fertilizer, irrigation, and weeding will keep your plants healthy and productive.
 
At the end of each growing season, you will need to renovate your plants. This means removing spent plants, keeping runners within the row, reduce any overcrowding, and checking for signs of disease, pests, and weeds.
 
As brutal as it sounds, this also means mowing your strawberry rows within 7 to 10 days after the final harvest. Set your mower to a height one inch higher than the tallest crown and mow the rows. After mowing, rake the area and move all that plant debris to the compost pile. Remove any weeds, fertilize your strawberry plants, irrigate thoroughly, and cover the area with straw for the winter.
 
These practices will reduce pest and disease problems and prepare your plants for a productive spring for many years to come.