Berries & compact fruit
Strawberry
A compact perennial fruit crop established from healthy nursery plants, with runners retained as a renewal method.
Sowing & planting windows in Australia
Planting timing varies by broad Australian gardening zone. Local weather, unusual seasons and your garden’s microclimate can shift timing.
Cool
Transplant seedlings · Oct-Nov
Core months: October, November
Possible / shoulder months: September
Temperate
Transplant seedlings · Jun-Aug
Core months: June, July, August
Subtropical
Transplant seedlings · Apr-Aug
Core months: April, May, June, July, August
Tropical
Transplant seedlings · Apr-May
Core months: April, May
Arid
Transplant seedlings · May-Jun
Core months: May, June
Getting started
Plant healthy seedlings or plugs in the recorded window. Set the crown at soil level, spread roots without bending them, firm gently and water in. Bare-root runners can also establish a bed, but their timing remains supplementary rather than the calendar action.
The right conditions
Choose sun with fertile, free-draining soil. In hot districts, protect plants from harsh afternoon heat. Keep crowns above wet mulch and use clean planting stock to reduce disease carry-over.
As it grows
Keep moisture even through flowering and fruit fill, mulch beneath fruit, remove diseased leaves and manage runners according to whether the bed is fruiting or producing replacements. Renew declining plants with healthy stock.
Ready to harvest
Pick fully coloured fruit with the cap attached. Refrigerate promptly and wash under clean running water just before eating.
Important cautions
Eat the ripe fruit only from correctly identified, unsprayed plants. Discard mouldy or damaged berries; cultivar and climate affect cropping season and flavour.
Related how-to guides
Plant strawberries and root their runners
Use healthy stock and a draining sunny bed or container.
Plant guidance: P11b Wave 1 propagation, safety and plant-specific guide audit. Planting windows are a guide rather than a rule.