Organic Lawn Care for Getting Rid of Weeds in Wild Strawberries

Wild Strawberries

• Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), also known as Virginia strawberry, is a low-growing, colony-forming plant that spreads by seed and roots. Each plant has several 3-inch-long serrated trifoliate leaves and one or more clusters of flowers. Each flower is ¾ inch across with five white petals. Small strawberries form after the summer bloom period of one to two months. Plants reproduce by extending 2-foot-long runners that form new plantlets. Weeds grow easily in the space between newly formed plantlets.

Organic Lawn Care

• Gardeners choose organic lawn and ground-cover care to ensure their environment is safe for pets, children and fragile elders. Synthetic lawn-care products with weed suppressants contain chemical compounds that pose a health risk to these sensitive populations, according to the EPA. All lawn-care materials that suppress or kill weeds are considered pesticides, according to the University of California at Davis Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM).

Weed Control

• Hand-picking, mulching and non-toxic sprays are organic methods to eliminate weeds. Pick perennial weeds and thistles in spring when their root reserves are low. Perennial weeds include dandelions, burdock and creeping Charlie. Vinegar is a bio-degradable weed-control spray that burns or kills young weed plants in the wild strawberry patch. Vinegar is most effective when used as a heated application for three days. Freeze evaporation increases the acetic content of vinegar, which increases its potency as a weed killer.

Additional Benefits of Wild Strawberries

• Extensive weed growth may crowd out wild strawberry plants and reduce their value as natural habitat for beneficial insects and butterflies. Wild strawberries attract pollinators such as bees, skippers and butterflies to the garden. Little Carpenter bees, Nomadine Cuckoo bees, Mason bees and Adrenine bees are a few of the species attracted to this plant. The caterpillars of several species of moths feed on the flowers and foliage of wild strawberries. Game birds, songbirds and small mammals feed on the plant, distributing its seeds to a wide area.