The other day I was shopping at a local garden center when I noticed an unusal sight. I walked toward a strange looking planter with curiosity written all over my face. I realized that this planter had strawberries hanging off of it, it was a hanging strawberry plant. I don’t know if it is just me, but I had never seen such a thing. Later on that week I saw another strawberry planter at the local farmers market. After drilling the vendor with all my questions I decided to purchase the planter. It was full of strawberries. It was an ever-bearing strawberry plant which means that it will continue to bear fruit all summer long. Unlike the strawberry plants that just produce strawberries in June and July. I brought the plant home 2 weeks ago and it has been thrivingever since. It is growing rapidly and new berries are coming every day. Although, my children eat them as fast as they grow. I think I have been able to eat one or two berries, they were delicious. The advantages of hanging your strawberries are:

1. They can be moved and will not spread all throughout your garden.

2. There berries will not rot because they are sitting in wet soil.

3. They are less likely to get eaten by animals. (squirrils, chipmunks, etc) 

4. You can take them indoors in the winter and enjoy the fruit despite the cold temperatures.

5. You can determine how big they get based on the size of pot that you plant them in. (Smaller pot, smaller plant, larger pot, larger plant.)

6. They are a great decoration for your deck/outdoor area!

Not only did I decide that this is a good idea for growing strawberries but I also purchased an upside down planter for tomatoes. It too has been thriving. You water it from the top and the plant basically grows upside down. I absolutely love it. Another advantage with tomatoes is that they will not rot in this kind of planter because it is off the ground.  I often find that the fruit on tomato and strawberry plants will rot easily because they are so heavy and the fruit ends up sitting in the soil and getting eaten by buds. Yuck! So my simple solution is hanging up the plants.  Try it and let me know what results you get, also feel free to ask questions! Happy gardening!