With the onset of spring, when the return chills are past, remove the old leaf from the garden bed, loosen the ground with fertilizers and, after the new leaves begin to “grow”, cover the whole garden bed with 5 cm needles (dry fallen needles). When watering from a watering can through the needles, the earth will not become compacted, the need for frequent watering and loosening of the ground during the summer will disappear. In any rainy weather berries, which lie on the needles, are always clean. Before harvesting, all worries of finishing will be reduced to watering (sometimes with fertilizer) and rationing of the bushes left. Leave 1 -2 early whiskers on the bush with the first socket. Root, pushing the needles for subsequent landing in the "shkolku". After harvesting, remove the needles from the garden (you don’t need to bury it with a solution of manganese acid sour the earth), paper potassium, dry and store in bags until next spring. 3-4 years needles will last without adding fresh.
Acidifying effect should not be afraid. Strawberries tolerate slightly acid soils and even produce higher yields. Slugs, As for protection from something, spruce needles are better suited for this — it is shorter and more pointed than pine. But strawberries are often mulched with pine needles. This is due to the fact that we simply have more pine forests. Over time, the needles overheat and become softer. Therefore, it is periodically updated. It is better to do this before ripening berries, when they fall to the ground under their weight. In the forest, pine needles are collected in dry weather or are dried in bags. Slugs do not like it dry thorny needles.
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