Grow a Strawberry Tower

Credit: Terry Guscott

Fill the large pot 2⁄3 full with soil. Place the medium-sized pot on top, then top up the bottom container with soil.

The second pot will sit 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in.) deep in the soil and be quite snug. There should be a 10-cm-wide (4-in.) planting area between the top of the large pot and the base of the medium pot. Nestle five plants into the large container.

Fill medium container 2⁄3 full with soil and place the smallest container on it. Top up the soil in the medium container. Again you should have a 10-cm (4- in.) planting space between the top of the medium pot and the bottom of the smallest pot. Place four plants in the medium container. Fill the smallest container with soil and pot up your last three plants. Strawberries are heavy feeders, so sprinkle slow-release organic fertilizer over the soil to provide nourishment every time you water. Place container in the sunniest spot you can find.

Water every two days or as needed. As your tower grows and becomes too full, you can disassemble it, divide your plants and re-pot. In zones 5 and up, provided containers are frost-proof, the tower can stay outside over winter. In colder zones, keep the pot on the dry side and protect it in a greenhouse.

When purchasing strawberries, (Fragaria x ananassa), June-bearing plants produce a large single flush of berries in early summer, while ever-bearing types produce smaller crops throughout the season. Strawberry Picks: ‘Eversweet’: Produces wonderful, sweet, large berries all season and is very heat resistant. Well-suited to containers, baskets and garden beds. ‘Tristar’:An ever-bearing type producing medium-sized berries with excellent flavour. Disease resistant. ‘Kent’: Vigorous and high-yielding with very large, deep-red fruit in June.