Instructions for Strawberry Pyramid Planting

Combine two parts soil with one part each of sand and peat moss. Add ½ cup of a complete fertilizer to each bushel of the soil mixture.

Fill each terrace in the pyramid planter with the prepared soil. Smooth the surface of the soil and water it thoroughly so it is moistened throughout.

Plant the strawberries in the prepared pyramid terraces. Set the strawberries so the crowns of the plants sit above the soil surface and space the plants 12 inches apart. Each terrace should have a width of 8 to 12 inches, and the strawberries are planted in a single row around each terrace.

Water the strawberry pyramid one to two times a week, or when the top inch of soil feels dry. The soil may dry out more quickly in a pyramid planter than in a garden bed due to the smaller soil volume and exposed raised sides of the planter.

Cut back the strawberry plants after the final berry harvest in early July. Trim the foliage from the top of the plants but don't cut into the crown, which is where the stems join the root system. Only June-bearing strawberry varieties require cutting back; do not cut back everbearing types. Continue to water the cut-back strawberry plants until they go dormant in fall.

Cover the soil in the pyramid planter with a 6- to 8-inch layer of clean straw mulch after the soil in the planter begins to freeze. The mulch protects the plants from winter weather by insulating the soil. Remove the mulch gradually in spring as new growth begins on the plants.