Region chooses the system
Pick the bed you can manage before choosing a month
The two paths differ in planting season, bed layout, disease exposure and how long you wait for fruit.
North Georgia · Matted row
Plant in spring
First fruit the following year. Mother plants are spaced 2 feet apart, flowers are removed the first spring, and runners fill the row through summer. A healthy bed may produce for several years.Middle & South Georgia · Annual hill
September 15 – November 1
Fruit the next spring. Early October is usually best. Plants are set 12 inches apart on prepared raised beds; the planting is normally removed after harvest.Why Georgia splits the answer
Summer disease risk changes the practical system
UGA prefers the annual hill system in Middle and South Georgia because anthracnose can destroy matted-row plantings during their first summer, before they fruit.
North Georgia
Use the spring matted-row path when you can maintain a bed through summer and wait until the second year for fruit.
The bed can continue for several years if it remains healthy and is renovated after harvest.Middle Georgia
Use the annual hill path from September 15–November 1; early October is usually best.
A fall planting avoids carrying a young matted row through the highest-risk summer.South Georgia
Use the same September 15–November 1 annual hill window and next-spring harvest model.
Do not import the North Georgia matted-row schedule simply because both systems use strawberry plants.Before plants arrive
Prepare the site and buy clean stock
The bed should be ready before the regional window, particularly for fall plants that need prompt establishment.
- The site receives full sun most or all day and drains well.
- The plants are certified virus-free stock from a reputable nursery.
- The selected cultivar is adapted to the region and chosen growing system.
- The soil has been tested; avoid wet soil, heavy clay and sites with recent pepper, tomato or potato history for the matted-row bed.
Two different starts
Follow the setup for your system
For a North Georgia matted row
Plant mother plants 2 feet apart in spring. Remove flowers that first spring so plant energy goes into establishment.
Let runners fill the row
Maintain water and weed control through summer, keeping the developing mat about 2 feet wide.
For a Middle or South Georgia annual hill
Prepare two-row raised beds before planting, then set plants 12 inches apart in and between rows.
Set the crown at the correct level
Keep the middle of the crown level with the soil surface. A buried crown can rot; exposed roots can dry.
What your calendar means
The expected harvest tells you whether you chose correctly
A spring planting does not promise berries in a few weeks, and a fall annual hill is not meant to be held through years by default.
North · first spring
Remove the flowers
Fruit is delayed so runners and crowns can establish the matted row for the following year.North · second spring
Expect the first crop
Continue only while the bed stays healthy; renovate after harvest if keeping it.Middle/South · early October
The preferred fall target
This sits inside UGA’s September 15–November 1 annual-hill range.Middle/South · after harvest
Remove the annual planting
The standard system is usually destroyed after the spring crop rather than carried through summer.North Georgia exception
A fall annual hill can work in a normal winter, but it is not the default north answer
UGA notes that annual-hill plants may also be set in North Georgia during normal winters and says Chandler is usually more productive there than Camarosa. Because winter conditions and cultivar choice carry more risk, confirm that branch locally rather than replacing the established North Georgia matted-row answer.