Can I sow strawberries now?
Not from seed now. A sowing started today is unlikely to beat the autumn cold; use this page if you are already growing strawberries, or choose something still in season.
- Best next action
- Choose another crop to sow now
No. 41 · Hardy — can tolerate frostfrom our plotWhen to plant
strawberries in the UK
Plant runners in spring or late summer and you will be picking fruit the following June. Net them or the birds will get there first. Replace plants every three years for the best yields.
Can I sow strawberries now?
Not from seed now. This is outside the usual UK sowing window for strawberries.
- Status
- Too late from seed
- Best next step
- Wait
- Usual window
- Outside the usual UK sowing window
What I'd do now: This is not a good sowing moment on the UK average; use the calendar to choose a crop with an open window.
For the broader month view, see what to sow in July, or use the UK sowing calendar. For more detail, read the fruit growing guide.
When will your strawberries be ready to eat?
Put in the day you actually sowed — the harvest date moves with it. Tuned to your saved location where available.
Work out your own dates
Set the day you sowed (and planted out, if you did) — your harvest date is below.
Using the UK-average last frost · 15 April · add your postcode to tune it
Not sown yet? The standard dates for strawberries
Plant out
From around 18 Mar
4 weeks before last frost on the UK average
Transplant seedlings to their final position
Harvest
~12 weeks from sowing
Space plants 35cm apart
Get strawberries seeds
Some links are affiliate links — if you buy through them, a little goes towards the allotment shed, at no extra cost to you.
What strawberries need
Full sun. Rich, well-drained soil. Mulch with straw to keep fruit clean and stop rot. Water regularly when fruiting.
Tiny, white, woodland strawberries with a flavour so intensely perfumed it's almost tropical — pineapple and vanilla and something you can't quite place.
White Alpine· our pick
Spacing
35cm between plants
These are larger plants — give them plenty of space for air circulation.
Varieties worth growing
Cambridge Favourite
commonThe mid-season workhorse of British gardens since the 1940s — not the biggest berry, but reliable, generous, and full of the old-fashioned strawberry flavour that's the whole reason to grow your own.
Strawberries and cream
Hull, halve the bigger ones, put in a bowl, pour over cold double cream. Don't whip it. The cream should pool around the berries. A sugar sprinkle if you must, but good strawberries don't need it.
Mara des Bois
rareA French variety with the perfume of a wild strawberry in a garden-sized berry, cropping from June until the first frosts. Months of that intense woodland flavour, a few at a time — the bowl fills slowly and it doesn't matter a bit.
Strawberry tart
Blind-bake a sweet pastry case, fill with creme patissiere, arrange whole berries on top. Glaze with warmed apricot jam. The intense flavour of Mara des Bois means each bite is concentrated strawberry. No need for anything else.
Royal Sovereign
uncommonA heritage strawberry from 1892, grown for one reason: the flavour, which old hands still measure everything else against. The yields are modest and the berries soft, so eat them the day they're picked — a strawberry for pleasure, not for quantity.
Eton mess
Crush some berries, leave others whole. Fold into softly whipped cream with broken meringue pieces. The juices streak through the cream like pink marble. A dessert that celebrates imperfection.
Elsanta
commonThe most widely grown commercial strawberry in the UK, and there's a reason for that — it's productive, disease-resistant, and the berries are firm and glossy. Not the most complex flavour, but it delivers quantity and reliability. The safe pair of hands.
Strawberry smoothie
Blitz fresh berries with yoghurt, a drizzle of honey, and a splash of milk. Pour into a glass. The firmness of Elsanta berries means a thick, satisfying smoothie rather than a watery one.
White Alpine
★ legendaryTiny, white, woodland strawberries with a flavour so intensely perfumed it's almost tropical — pineapple and vanilla and something you can't quite place. The berries are the size of your little fingertip, and you'll eat them one at a time, slowly, in disbelief. Birds ignore them because they never turn red. The secret strawberry.
White alpine strawberries with cream
Place a small handful in a bowl. Pour over a little cold cream. Eat very slowly. That's it. When something is this extraordinary, the recipe is restraint.
When to sow strawberries
Based on UK average frost date. Enter your postcode for exact dates, or find your city.
Where to buy strawberries seeds
Some links are affiliate links — if you buy through them, a little goes towards the allotment shed, at no extra cost to you.
Get your exact dates
Enter your postcode for personalised planting dates for strawberries.